After Darquesse Rained Upon Them
by Lex Avalon
Summary: *CONTAIN SPOILERS* Think of this fanfic as a new SP book. Set after The Dying Of The Light so expect spoilers. Ghastly is alive because I'm in denial. This story is basically just the gang going on more adventures and coping with stuff now that Darquesse is gone. At the moment the main ship is Ghanith, but that could change. Please enjoy! Please review!
1. Chapter 1: Tanith

Valkyrie stumbled backwards and landed hard on the padded floor and Tanith's training room. Her stick flew from her grasp and she sighed. Pulling herself up, she picked up her stick. She stood and grinned at Tanith Low, whose curly blonde hair was tied back. She held a wooden sword in her grip. Her waistcoat was open, showing the black vest beneath, and she stood with a smile on her face, gently leaning on her fake sword.

"C'mon Val you can do better than that." she said with a grin.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and wiped a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead. Her hands went to remove her jacket and when it was off she tossed it out of the way. She stood with the stick out in front of her, her knees bent slightly, and her eyes not leaving Tanith's sword. Tanith smiled and stepped forward, bringing her sword up. She took another step forward. Valkyrie didn't move but she readied herself. Tanith took a step left and Valkyrie mirrored her. Tanith took another step forward so they were close. She wanted Valkyrie to attack first, but Valkyrie knew what would happen if she did.

Without warning, Tanith's sword swung towards Valkyrie's side and instead of diving out of the way like last time, Valkyrie moved her stick so it prevented the sword from touching her. She pushed the sword to the side like Tanith had shown her and darted out of the way, bringing her stick in an arch towards Tanith's belly. Tanith avoided that easily and she moved her sword as if to cut Valkyrie's head from her shoulders. Valkyrie, who reacted instinctively, stumbled backwards instead of ducking and Tanith rolled her eyes. Valkyrie stuck out her tongue. When Valkyrie had recovered, she faced Tanith and held the stick out in a strong two-handed grip. They began to circle each other, both of them smiling. Tanith did not attack, so Valkyrie assumed it was her turn. She lunged forwards, swinging her stick for Tanith, not really caring where it would land because she knew it would never touch Tanith. Tanith batted the stick away with annoying ease and she twisted around Valkyrie. Valkyrie spun, her stick already swinging. Tanith blocked that, of course, and Valkyrie's frustration began to creep through. She began to attack wildly, not caring about technique all that much but just concentrating on winning. She swung and Tanith blocked, again and again and Tanith was laughing now. Valkyrie felt a smile beginning to slip out but she forced it down, trying to keep a look of seriousness on her face. Tanith grinned and blocked one of Valkyrie's swings with more force this time and she pushed against her stick. Valkyrie stumbled backwards and Tanith ran towards her. Tanith flipped over her and before Valkyrie had time to turn, she kicked Valkyrie's backside and she went sprawling in a heap.

"Ow, my ass." said Valkyrie, laughing. Tanith reached down and pulled her up in a fluid motion.

"I didn't kick you that hard." said Tanith, rolling her eyes. Valkyrie was about to say something, possibly a witty retort, but stopped when she heard the sarcastic clapping from behind her. Valkyrie closed her eyes and imagined a peaceful place before turning around.

Skulduggery was standing there. He was in his usual suit and hat. He was clapping, but not in a genuine way. His head was tilted. The clapping stopped.

Valkyrie folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you had stuff to do today?" she said. "Important things."

"I have down my important things. I've found us a case."

Valkyire sighed and said, "I was supposed to train today. We agreed I would train today."

"I know we did." he said. Valkyrie could hear the sigh in his voice. "But Grand Mage Sorrows has asked for us."

"Grand Mage Sorrows always asks for us."

"That's because she knows, and we know, we're the best."

"I know. Still. Why can't you go by yourself?"

"She asked for us not just me."

Valkyrie sighed, already feeling as if the battle was lost. "Fine." she said, "Go wait in the car, I'll be a second."

Skulduggery nodded and walked out.

"Sorry" she said to Tanith as she pulled on her coat.

Tanith smiled. "No problem, duty calls."

"One day I'll just have a normal day." Valkyrie said almost wistfully.

"Yes." said Tanith, "And you'll get bored."

Valkyrie smiled. "Yeah, probably." she said. She picked up her stick and placed it on her back. "I best go, I don't want to keep China waiting."

Tanith nodded and Valkyire gave her a brief hug before walking out. Tanith didn't bother escorting Valkyrie out of her front door.

Tanith did up her waistcoat and picked up the wooden sword. She placed it in the umbrella stand which had various other wooden weapons in it. Her training room was large and sqaure, with padded floors and wooden walls. There were airconditioning units on the ceiling, and heaters on the floor. In cupboards on the wall there were towels, spare t-shirts, blindfolds, and other weird things. Her coat and her real sword was on a hook on the wall, and she removed them, keeping hold of her coat but sliding the strap on her sword around her chest. She walked out of the training room and went to her living room, placing her coat on the arm of the couch. She sat down for a minute, wondering what to do with her day, before she sighed and lay down on the couch. She lay for a while, trying to sleep, She wasn't really tired, she was just bored with nothing to do. She sighed and sat up again, tapping her fingers against her thigh, thinking. She got up. Walked into her kitchen. Put the stuff that made the coffee into the coffee machine. Waited. Got the coffee. Sat down again. Drank the coffee. Another boring day.

Tanith didn't know what to do. She felt constantly bored. Ever since Darquesse had been stopped and the apocalyse averted, everything seemed mundane. It was okay for Skulduggery and Valkyrie, they had excitement that came in the form of hitting people. They were told of things that needed to be sorted out, and they had purpose, a job. But Tanith had nothing. Nobody really trusted her anymore, not even Ghastly, and she had no clue why. What had she done as a remnant exactly? Was it something so bad that even being possessed couldn't excuse it? Tanith was lonely and confused and she hated the feeling of uncertaincy that she couldn't escape. She felt an overwhelming urge to run away, to find out what she had done as a remnant, but at the same time she just wanted to stay inside not knowing. She could remember fragments, and sometimes she had dreams about it. She remembered hints of her obsession with Darquesse. She remembered parts of The Midnight Hotel with The Monster Hunters.. She remembered cutting off Mercy's head to save Valkyrie, which was probably the only decent thing she'd done whilst possessed, but it still haunted her. She remembered him. She remembered Billy-Ray Sanguine.

Tanith remembered him loving her, but she did not remember loving him. She remembered the way he would look at her sometimes with something that could be described as admiration, but her remnant self, which was without empathy, could not see it. It chilled her. What kind of person was she during those two years that made a serial killer fall in love with her? The Sanguine she remembered was a crazy psychopath, but the Billy-Ray Sanguine she had met when she "woke up" was a different person. Scared. Almost shy. He had been timid to approach her but yet hadn't stayed away from her. He never forced himself on her and tried to hide the fact that he was in love with her. It was confusing, it was all so confusing. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't escape one fact:

Billy-Ray had died for her.

Tanith rememered the surprise on his face. He never wanted to die. She rememered the way he choked and spluttered as he clutched the slash on his throat, something that he had done to other people multiple times. She remembered seeing something in face as the holes where his eyes should be fixtated on her. Something that wasn't regret but something else, something that shouldn't of been in a serial killer's eyes. It was an apology. And it had broke something inside of Tanith.

Tanith rubbed her eyes. She did not love Billy-Ray Sanguine. She still didn't. But she was sorry. Sorry that he died thinking he loved her.

She felt wrong. So wrong. Like when Darquesse was stopped everyone was okay again except from her. She felt alone despite the fact that Skulduggery and Valkyrie had left little under twenty minutes ago.

Tanith groaned and lay down on the couch again, her face in a pillow and she tried to make sense of her own mind. She didn't freak out. She didn't scream and cry and punch a wall like she wanted to. She remained calm and quiet, and chewed her lip.

The doorbell rang. Tanith got up, frowning. Her house was in a mortal village and not many sorcerers knew where she lived. She never got visitors, except Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and she didn't get much post because her house was sustained by magic. She walked quielty towards the door, her sword strapped perfectly on her back, making no noise. She wondered if Valkyrie had forgotten something, but she couldn't hear the purr of the Bentley. There was no noise outside and for a second Tanith wondered if she had missed the noise of a car pulling up and stopping. She doubted she had. A hopeful thought crossed her mind, was it Ghastly? Nevertheless, Tanith took out her sword. She placed her hand on the door handle, waited for a few seconds, and ripped the door open. Stood on her front step was a mortal postman, holding a package wrapped in brown paper and string, adressed to her. By the gate of her house was a bike, which explained why she hadn't heard a car pull up. Tanith frowned and put her sword away, conjuring a smile from nowhere to assure the postman. The postman looked shocked.

"I'm just here to...you have a parcel..?" he stammered, holding the parcel out to her.

"Oh" she said, and took the parcel. "Thank you." She looked at the postman. He looked young, maybe twenty. He looked normal, but that's the best way for someone dangerous to look.

"Sorry about the sword thing..." she continued, "My nephew is a little obsessed with swords at the moment. He's two."

The postman blinked. "Your two year old nephew is obsessed with swords?"

Tanith forced a grin. "Yeah. He's an oddball." Tanith glanced around her, as if looking for her nephew. "I'm watching him" she explained, "We're playing a game. The sword's fake of course."

"Oh, okay" said the postman, smiling a little. "Of course." he said. "Would you sign please?" he held out a clipboard. Tanith took it.

"Okay..." she murmured. She put the soft parcel under her arm. She didn't write her own name. She signed the name Tabitha Low with a fluorish, and gave it back to the postman. The name Tabitha had come from nowhere, but she knew she used it before, Tanith fought back a sigh.

The postman frowned. "The parcel's adressed to Tanith Low? Not Tabitha?"

"She's my sister. I'm Tabitha."

"I'm Sam." said the postman, putting the clipboard beneath his elbow and holding out his hand. Tanith shook it politely, and was about to say goodbye when Sam began to speak again.

"I've just got this job" he began. Oh dear god no, thought Tanith. "I thought it would be boring, but it's really fun."

"Oh okay." said Tanith.

"Yeah it's better than it seems. I've just moved here actually,"

Spare me, thought Tanith.

"I know everyone because it's a small town, but I don't know you. If I saw you, I'd remember you." he smiled. Please don't. I am way to old for you. By about sixty years.

"Right." she said, folding her arms. Go away.

"Yeah. Has anyone told you you're really pr-"

"I can hear my nephew crying." said Tanith. She'd had enough. "I should find him."

"What?" said Sam, "I can't hear him?"

"I can."

"Oh. Okay, Tabitha. See you around?"

"Maybe." said Tanith. "Bye." She shut the door and shouted "Billy!" just so Sam wouldn't feel too insulted. She waited a minute and peeked out of the window. He was gone.

Tanith went into her living room with the package, and collasped onto the couch. The parcel was soft and light. It was adressed to her in a messy scrawl. She looked at it for a second and shook it. It made no noise. Tanith put it down on her lap and pulled at the string that was tied around it. It came undone pretty easily. She unwrapped the pacel, suddenly very curious, and pulled out what was inside.

Clothes. That was her first thought. Nice clothes. Like the ones she was wearing but made out of a stronger material. There were trousers, dark brown almost black that looked like leather but weren't. There was a buckle built into them, and they had a peculier stitching down the side. There were boots, which were black and thin soled, but strong. They were light and had a good grip. There was soft fur on the inside. Tanith reckoned they'd reach just below her knees. There was a waistcoat, brown and tight just like the one Tanith was wearing now. It had small buttons and no pockets. There was also two tops; a tight vest and a low cut long sleeved top, both black.

Tanith looked at them, and smiled a big goofy grin. She rubbed her thumb against the soft fabric. Ghastly, she thought. Gathering her clothes up in her arms, she ran up to her bedroom, a huge smile. He didn't hate her. He wasn't angry with her. Happiness swelled up inside Tanith like a balloon. Rushing slightly, she undressed. She took the sword off her back and tossed it on her bed. She pulled on her new clothes and marvelled at how perfect they were. They were a perfect fit. They were tight, just like she liked them, but not tight enough to restrict her movement. The boots warmed her cold feet. The trousers made the goosebumps on her legs melt away. She looked in the mirror and liked what she saw. They were perfect. She couldn't make the goofy smile go away.

She wanted to call Ghastly. Thank him for her wonderful clothes. She jumped down the stairs and went to her coat, which was still on the armrest of the couch. Tanith smiled. Ghastly knew she loved that coat. That's why he didn't make her one.

Tanith took out her mobile from her coat and called Ghastly. After waiting for a moment, a female voice said Number is no longer in service.

Damn, thought Tanith, putting her phone back into her coat pocket. An idea occured to her. She put on her coat, went upstairs, got her sword, slid it onto her back, went back downstairs, got her helmet, and walked outside, closing the door behind her. She walked to new black motorbike. Her old one was lost, nobody knew what happened to it. Her new one was exactly the same. Tanith put on her helmet and clambered onto her motorbike. She set off for Roarhaven.

Riding her motorbike always calmed her down, despite the fact that she was travelling fast. She loved the air against her skin and the sound of the engine on the quiet roads. Her amazing clothes kept her warm. The road to Roarhaven was one with many twists and turns, and that made it a good ride.

Tanith got there and the sorcerer stopped her, as per usual. She lifted up her visor so he could see her face, and he nodded, letting her pass. She slowed down as she approached the city. Tanith passed the ruined areas that Darquesse had destroyed. Soon after that, she parked up and left her helmet on the seat of her motorbike. She doubted that anyone would steal it, and if they did there would be trouble. Tanith walked towards the only entrance to the Sanctuary she knew. She stepped inside, suddenly sheltered from the wind.

She thought for a moment about asking the administrator if they knew where Ghastly was, but she decided against it. Tanith knew several important areas of this new and improved Sanctuary and she walked towards the one where she thought Ghastly would be at this time. Being an Elder was taking its toll, and because it was around lunch time he would probably be taking out his frustration on something. She walked towards the training center.

As Tanith neared, she could hear the unmistakable sound of fists pounding against leather. They had a steady, familar rhythm. She smiled and entered the training room silently. Ghastly didn't turn around. He was pounding the punching bag with so much force that the bar that it was hanging from trembled. Sweat was beginning to form on his t-shirt between his shoulder blades. He was wearing plain grey jogging bottoms.

Tanith cleared her throat softly. Ghastly stopped beating up the punching bag, and hesistated before turning around.

"Hey Ghastly." said Tanith, smiling.

"Hello Tanith" he said, walking towards her. The atmosphere was tense. Tanith couldn't put her finger on why.

"I just wanted to say thank you for the clothes, they're great. Really great." she paused, "I won't be able to pay you back immediatley, but after a while I-"

"Don't bother," said Ghastly, "It was no trouble."

"Oh." she said. Ghastly was within touching distance now.

Tanith hesistated, she needed to say it. "Look," she began in a rush, "I'm sorry for whatever I did as I remnant. I only remember fragments, but most of those fragments are...bad. I feel awful, I really do. Awful because I know what I did must of been bad but more awful because I haven't even bothered to find out what I did so I could make up for it. I'm a mess, I can't concentrate. There are feelings and memories that I can't shake, and I know that it wasn't me but and the same time it's hard to believe it wasn't me and everything is just hard to conprehend and I-"

Her voice broke. She wasn't going to cry. She hadn't cried in years. She would not cry.

Ghastly looked at her. She could tell he was stuck on things to say.

"I missed you, Tanith." he said.

Tanith hugged him then. She threw herself into his arms. Those arms wrapped around her waist and she fought back those tears. She could smell the sweat on his skin but she didn't mind. His arms were strong, and safe, and for a moment Tanith forgot about everything. But then it came back and hit her like a train. "I'm sorry." she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't you, Tanith. It wasn't you." he said, and Tanith felt the tiniest tear slip out from behind her eyelids. She pulled away and spun around, brushing the tear from her cheek before Ghastly could see. She was so relieved. She was no longer alone.

Tanith regained control and turned back towards Ghastly. He looked concerned, but happy at the same time.

Tanith smiled, and Ghastly smiled back. And suddenly, without even thinking, she kissed him.

Ghastly froze, and for a moment Tanith she'd made a terrible mistake, but then his arms were around her and he was kissing her back and everything was finally good. The empty space in her chest that was weighing her down evaporated. All she could feel was him, his lips on hers, his left hand on her waist, his right on her neck. Her right hand was on the back of his neck, and she could feel the edges of the symmetrical scars that covered his head. Tanith had never minded the scars. She smiled against his lips, unable to prevent it and Ghastly smiled too. They broke away, both smiling broadly.

For a moment all was silent, and Ghastly opened his mouth to say something, but he never got the words out.

"Elder Bespoke!" called a nasal voice from the doorway. Tanith didn't recognise the voice. With a strained look of calm, Ghastly said

"Yes?"

"Sorry Elder Bespoke, Grand Mage Sorrows wants to see you."

"Of course she does." he said with a sigh. Ghastly turned to Tanith, "I'll see you later."

"Actually Elder Bespoke, Grand Mage Sorrows has requested to see the both of you."

"Has she now?" said Tanith, she gestured to the door. "Lead the way." was all she said.


	2. Chapter 2: Valkyrie

After she left Tanith, Valkyrie walked out towards the Bentley and slid into her seat. Skulduggery's facade was activated. Skulduggery waited until Valkyrie's seatbelt was on before starting the Bentley and setting off.  
"Uh," said Valkyrie, "Isn't the Sanctuary in the other direction?"  
"Maybe."  
Valkyrie frowned, and sighed. "Okay, why are we going in the other direction?"  
"Look in your wing mirror, what do you see?"  
Valkyrie complied. "A white van." she said.  
"Anything else?" said Skulduggery calmly, whilst taking a sudden turn at the last minute.  
"Jesus!" cried Valkyrie's, and she was tossed about in her seat.  
"Nope, I'm Skulduggery." he said.  
Valkyrie winced at his terrible, terrible, joke and looked back at the wing mirror. She frowned as the van tried to take the turn they just did. The van, lacking the Bentley's turning ability and Skulduggery's driving skill, swerved onto the other side of the road slightly. Horns blared as angry drivers cursed.  
"Is that following us?" she said.  
"I believe so."  
"Is that why we didn't head to the Sanctuary?"  
"The roads here are busy, full of mortals. If they're smart they won't want to draw attention to themselves, so they won't do anything and they'll drive away. If not-"  
"We're in trouble?"  
"What?"  
Valkyrie faltered. "Usually people say that at the end of that sentence."  
Skulduggery tilted his head, "No. I was going to say, if not they'll try to fight us in the middle of the road, and we'll win because we are better than them and have superior fighting skills."  
"Of course." said Valkyrie. She frowned, "Are they speeding up?"  
Skulduggery glanced out of the mirror. "Yes." he confirmed, and piled on the speed. The van had no chance of catching them.  
"Where are we going to go?" Valkyrie asked. Skulduggery was still going fast, and she was pressed back into her seat.  
"We'll see if we can lose them." he said. The white van was trying vainly to keep up, but the Bentley was miles faster and it grew further and further away from it.  
"Well, said Valkyrie, "This is easy."  
"Surprisingly so." he said. He carried on driving at the same speed, trying to get out of sight so that they could lose them. They rounded a corner, and zoomed past a white car parked on the side of the road, Soon after, a siren began to wail as the same car started up and drove up behind them.  
"Uh," said Valkyrie, looking out of the back window, "I think we're being pulled over."  
"Dammit," muttered Skulduggery, and fluidly parked the Bentley at the side of road.  
"Be nice." said Valkyrie as the policeman walked over.  
"I'm always nice. People say I'm charming."  
"Those people obviously have not met you." muttered Valkyrie beneath her breath.  
The policeman tapped the Bentley's window, with maybe a little too much force.  
Skulduggery turned to Valkyrie, shock on his facade, "Did you see that? He just touched my car. How can you expect me to be nice to him if he just touched my car?"  
"Skulduggery. Roll the window down."  
After grumbling under his breath a little, Skulduggery did as he was told.  
"Hello!" beamed Skulduggery, "Nice day isn't it? Lovely day for driving around with those noisy sirens of yours."  
The policeman didn't look impressed.  
"The thing is," Skulduggery continued, "You can't be pulling us over right now because we've got stuff to do. We're busy people, with busy lives. We dont have the luxury of time so we have to drive everywhere fast. We're on our way to a murder scene, you're something like a policeman right? You know about murders right?"  
Valkyrie stifled a laugh.  
"You cannot be stopping us because we are important people. I have natural authority. I am Detective Inspector Me, and this is my battle accessory, Detective Inspector Her. We are important people with important jobs and if it isn't too much trouble, we will be on our way know."  
"Step out of the car, Sir." said the policeman, unamused.  
"Why?"  
"Because I asked you too."  
"But I have natural authority."  
"Step out of the car."  
"You're being rude."  
"Get out."  
"I can't." said Skulduggery, "The child lock is on."  
The policeman's face darkened, and he pulled open Skulduggery's door.  
"Much appreciated." said Skulduggery as he climbed out. The policeman waited until he was fully out before swinging Skulduggery against the bonnet. He pulled handcuffs from his belt and went to click them on, but he frowned as they hit a wall of air a few centimeters from Skulduggery's wrists. Skulduggery looked at him, "Oops." he said, and blasted wave of air into the policeman's face. The policeman stumbled backwards and Skulduggery grabbed him and hit him .  
Valkyrie blinked. "The hell, Skulduggery?" she shouted.  
"Mirror!" he called, and spun around to see figures darting out of the bushes from the side of the road towards him. He clicked his fingers and fire danced in his hands.  
Valkyrie glanced in her wing mirror, the white van had had pulled up behind them.

Valkyrie jumped out and pulled the stick from her back. She ran to Skulduggery and jumped on the nearest attacker and smacked her stick violently into his head. There was a crack and the man fell. Valkyrie smiled, and turned to the next one.  
The next one was tall, but well muscled. "Darquesse." he snarled. His hands began to glow. _Energy__throwe_r, thought Valkyrie, and she threw up her own hand to meet his, and white energy shot from her palm, whilst blue energy shot from his. The streams of energy met it the middle, and Valkyrie allowed hers to falter a bit so the man became more confident. Then, without warning, she increased hers and the man cried out as the white lightning struck his palm, burning it. Whilst he was panicking stumbling backwards, she rushed forwards and hit him with a good uppercut to the chin. He fell backwards and stayed on the ground.

Big arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the ground. He arms were strapped by her sides and her legs kicked wildly. Valkyrie landed a good kick to the side of his knee, but that man was huge and she doubted he even felt that. Thinking fast, Valkyrie tried to kick him between the legs but he saw that coming and avoided it. He was walking backwards, dragging her with him, and she grunted and thrashed. He pulled her into the white van, his arms still locking her in place. She began to bare her teeth a little, which was a bad habit that occurred when she was angry. An idea popped into her head. Valkyrie bit him.

It hurt her teeth. The man laughed.  
"Can't hurt me, Darquesse." he said. Instead of correcting him, she went with it.  
"Oh yeah, you got me. Damn."  
The man cackled. He didn't seem to get sarcasm. "Oh yeah. I knew you weren't that powerful. I knew I'd get my revenge."  
"Oh no." said Valkyrie, slowing and carefully moving her arms so that her hands could touch. She began to pour energy into her hands, a trick she'd learned from Darquesse. She was careful not to let any of the bright light slip out from between her fingers. She kept thrashing her legs to keep up the act, "What are you going to do?" she whispered with as much fear as her ego could bare.  
"Kill you." said the man happily. Valkyrie wondered about his mental well-being as the pleasant burning in her hands intensified. She glanced out of the window and saw Skulduggery still fighting some of those guys.  
"Oh," she said, trying to sound sad. "Can I at least know the name of the...great...man who will end me?"  
"Fury." he said, "Big Fury."  
"Big...Fury?" muttered Valkyrie. Big Fury was crazy. She didn't even know what to think. The burning in her hands reached boiling point.  
"Big Fury?" she said, slightly exasperated.  
"Yes?"  
"Sorry."  
Valkyrie opened her hands, and the van blew apart. Fury was thrown off her and she shook off the numb feeling in her arms. Fury didn't get up. The men around Skulduggery had been hit by the blast, but Skulduggery himself had made a wall of air that had shielded him. Valkyrie climbed up the crater she made and Skulduggery pulled her out. "Your doing?" he asked,  
Valkyrie grinned, "Oops." she said as she stepped onto one of the vans tires, debris was scattered all around. He opened her mouth to say something but a pain so sudden tore through her body and she screamed and fell back into the hole, her head smacking onto a rock. Her body spasmed as it burned, and she gritted her teeth, only half aware of the blood dripping from her forehead into her eyes. The pain pulsated through her body making her limbs jerk out and she cried out "Skulduggery!" but she only got halfway through the word before it faded into a whimper. She didn't even know what was going on around her.

Seconds, minutes, or hours later Skulduggery was beside her. She knew he was saying something but only fragments got through. It was like a badly tuned radio.  
"Valk..ie...an...ear me?" he said, and then more clearly, "Valkyrie? ...hear me?"  
A moan escaped her lips. Skulduggery picked her up in his arms and ran her to the car. He strapped her in and she drifted off for a while, lost. She was slightly aware of him talking urgently into the phone, perhaps angrily, as he drove with haste. "I don...ow." he was saying. "You heard...yes...obviously..." and then clearly, as if he was shouting in her ear. "I am sure dammit!"  
Valkyrie blacked out and was submerged in the fog.

When Valkyrie woke she knew where she was instantly. The Sanctuary. She could tell because of the hushed voices and the wheeze of medical machines, and the smell of disinfectant that was at every hospital. Her body was heavy. Her head felt like someone had shoved bricks into it. She was elevated and her toes tingled. Her neck felt like someone had shoved a knife in it. Groaning, she peeled her eyes open. Skulduggery was sat in a chair next to her hospital bed, his facade off but facing away from her. She tried to speak but her tongue was too heavy and she couldn't. She tried again and a grunt managed to force itself out. Skulduggery looked around at her.  
"Oh," he said, "Hello."  
Valkyrie couldn't speak and looked at him helplessly.  
"Don't worry," he said, "Doctor Synecdoche said you'd regain the use of most of your muscles within a few minutes, the rest within the hour. Hopefully the use of your vocal cords will be the latter."  
She glared at him.  
"Oh right, yes, sorry. I suppose you want to know what happened."  
Valkyrie nodded but then realised she couldn't move her head.  
"I'll take that as a yes. Do you remember Lightning Dave?" he said. She did. "He had the power to control lightning, but it was weak because he never bothered to train it. As long as it could hurt people, Lightning Dave was okay with it."  
Valkyrie wanted to nod.  
"You were attacked by a man called Void. We only know his last name, but I intend to find out more. He had trained for years to make his electricity powers stronger. He got good enough to be able to call down natural lightning from the sky and use it. He attacked you because you hurt his son, Fury. You were basically struck by lightning. You'll probably scar."  
Valkyrie frowned.  
"There's not much they can do. They fixed up the cut on your head, but your neck is different."  
She could feel a tingling in her lips, "Have you found out what China wanted us for?" she croaked.  
Skulduggery sighed. "Of course _you_would regain control of your voice first. And no, I didn't. I was here."  
"Oh." she said with a voice like sandpaper. Feeling came back to her legs, and she wiggled her toes. She moved her legs slowly, working her way up until she could feel a painful prickle in both of her legs.  
"Ow." she said,  
"What?"  
"Pins and needles." she said, and swung her legs onto the floor. She was still wearing her boots. Valkyrie stood and stumbled slightly and Skulduggery steadied her.  
"Easy." he said. "You have just been struck by lightning."  
"I've had worse." she smiled and tingling lit up her face. "Why didn't Ghastly's clothes protect me?" she asked.  
"They would of, but the bolt hit your neck just above your collar. Void knew how to aim."  
"Ah," Valkyrie said and stretched. She touched the skin on the back of her neck and frowned, it was sore but felt smooth, like it was a horrendous sunburn.  
"Here." said Skulduggery, passing her a mirror, he had another one in his hand and he allowed her to adjust it slightly. She leant forwards and angled her own mirror so that she could her her neck. She moved her hair out of the way. On her neck was a brilliant red ragged diamond, and coming from that were strands of red that mimicked lightning. She pulled her coat off and examined it more carefully. The scar or wound or whatever it was crawled down her spine and towards her shoulders.  
"When is heals properly, the entrance wound," Skulduggery touched her neck and traced the ragged diamond. "will disappear. The red lightning bolts will not, but they will go white. The exit wound," he took her right hand and turned it palms up. An uneven circle of red was on her palm, and snaking down towards it were more scarlet lightning bolts. "Will also go." he dropped her hand.  
"Cool," said Valkyrie.  
"What?"  
"It'll look cool. I'll look cool with loads of white lightning bolts on me. It'll match my tattoo." she gestured to her left arm where the Merryn Sigil was.  
Skulduggery tilted his head. "Did that lightning strike effect your brain?"  
She whacked him on the head.  
"Ow." he said, and whacked her back, avoided the stitches on her head.  
"Ouch, what was that for?"  
"You hit me."  
"You were being mean."  
"You were being weird."  
"Your always weird."  
She whacked him again but then realised it was true.  
He flicked her cheek.  
"Hey! I'm injured!"  
"You'll be more injured if you don't stop hitting me." Skulduggery murmured beneath his breath, amusement in his voice. He began to walk out and Valkyrie followed, grinning despite herself as she limped out.


	3. Chapter 3: Ghastly

Ghastly slid his hands into the pockets of his jogging bottoms as he walked. He kind of wished he was wearing something else in front of Tanith, but it couldn't be helped. His usual clothes were in the changing room near the training room, but China didn't like to be kept waiting. frown crossed his face. He didn't know the mage that was leading them by name, but he had the feeling he had seen him before. He let the man lead them away because he knew that people liked it when they felt like they had authority. He had never seen that man before, but assumed that it was one of China's old correspondents that she'd managed to get back in her service now that Eliza Scorn had been "taken care of". He didn't really know how she'd succeeded in getting her old informants back, but he imagined it was something despicable. Ghastly kept himself aware and cautious, but wasn't worried. The mage wasn't the most intimidating of people and seemed at ease, but that didn't mean that Ghastly should be off guard. However a man of the sorcerer's size didn't stand a chance against Ghastly and Tanith. Tanith had her sword, which could take a man's head faster than an eye blink. But Ghastly still stayed on guard; it was an old habit that refused to fade.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Tanith's head turn towards him. He glanced at her and she smiled softly and he smiled back. She turned away, not out of rudeness, and walked on. He carried on watching her, his smile not fading. Ghastly loved her. He knew that now. The thrill of getting her back and being able to be with her confirmed his suspicions. He didn't know if she loved him or just liked him, but he knew that he loved her and that was the only thing that could ever matter. He loved the way she walked lightly on the balls of her feet, soundless. He loved the way she was strong and could defend herself better than most men could. He loved the look of her toned arms, and her lean legs. She was fierce but still managed to be funny at the same time. Almost unconsciously, she reached up and took her hair from its ponytail, and it tumbled down her back. She shook out her hair. Tanith's gaze turned to Ghastly and he averted his eyes. She raised her eyebrows and smiled. He shrugged.

They walked to China's room of mirrors and the sorcerer held the door for them, a polite smile on his face. Tanith smiled back and Ghastly nodded. The door shut behind them. Ghastly didn't feel China's "pull" anymore. He still knew that she was beautiful, and nobody could deny it, but ever since Tanith had been back the effect had been dulled.

Tanith walked in and raised her eyebrows as she looked at the room. The mirrors reflected every single corner of the room towards China. Now that the Black Cleaver was gone, she had carved invisible sigils into every available surface. The room looked harmless enough, but it was a fortress.

China surveyed them for a second, her eyes lingering on Tanith's new clothes. The corner of her mouth curved upwards slightly and she looked at them with a hint of amusement in her eyes

"You wanted to see us, China?" said Ghastly.

"Grand Mage Sorrows, Elder Bespoke." China said.

"I still want to know how you managed that." said Tanith, smiling and putting her hands into her pockets.

"I managed it how I usually manage things," replied China, "With an abundance of wit and style."

Tanith rolled her eyes, and waited for China to elaborate on why she called them here. She didn't say anything. She just crossed her arms and waited.

"Ummmm?" said Tanith,

"Are you going to tell us why you called us here?" asked Ghastly.

"Yes. We're just waiting for Detectives Pleasant and Cain."

"But they left before me?" said Tanith, frowning. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure." said China, her face flickering into a frown for a second before returning to its normal perfection. Ghastly knew that she didn't like not knowing things. Tanith fell silent and they all waited.

Seconds later the door behind them opened and Ghastly didn't even have to turn to see who it was because of the excessive amount of mirrors. He looked at the mirror to the left of China and saw Skulduggery walk in and hold the door for Valkyrie, who was walking with a slight limp. She grinned at them as she entered.

"What happened?" asked China, straight to the point as usual.

"Uh, complicated." said Valkyrie, her voice croaking slightly.

"We got followed as we left Tanith's house," said Skulduggery, "and we were attacked. Valkyrie didn't get hurt-"

"Valkyrie did get hurt." interrupted Valkyrie, frowning and looking at him.

"-seriously." finished Skulduggery, spinning around to Valkyrie. "Why did you refer to yourself in third person?"

Valkyrie opened her mouth to say something but was cut of by China clearing her throat. They turned to her again.

"Who attacked you?" she asked.

Skulduggery answered, "Avas Void and a few other people I didn't recognise.

China raised her eyebrows, "Avas Void? You're sure? I had heard he was dead."

Ghastly fought of a smile, China hated incorrect information.

"We're sure." said Valkyrie before Skulduggery could say anything, "Look." She removed her jacket, turned around and lifted her hair from the back of her neck. Tanith walked to her and glanced at the scar peeking out from under Valkyrie's shirt. She pulled her T-shirt down a little so she could see more clearly,. Her eyes widened. Ghastly came forward and winced slightly at the marks on Valkyrie's skin. It looked painful.

"Ouch?" Tanith asked,

"Ouch." confirmed Valkyrie, nodding.

China's face was impassive but she stood and walked forwards. Being very careful, she examined the mark. She stepped back and sat down. Valkyrie put her jacket back on.

"Void's work?" asked China,

"Yeah" said Valkyrie.

"Hmm." said China.

"China," began Skulduggery, but hesitated when she glared at him. "...Grand Mage Sorrows, why did you call us here? Myself and Valkyrie were about to work a case."

China stood and clasped her hands in front of her. "I received a message this morning from one of my informants that told me something interesting about Erskine Ravel."

Everyone's faces darkened, and Skulduggery's head tilted slowly.

"As you are aware, he was, in a way," she glanced at Skulduggery, "executed for the murder of Anton Shudder, and the attempted murder of Elder Bespoke. After Ravel died, I sent out teams of people to try and track down the people that were working with him. Those teams had to be called off because of the Darquesse threat, but now she's gone. I sent out those teams again after we defeated her, and they came back with something interesting. Over the years, the allies of the child of the spider searched for people to recruit to their cause. These people had to be magical, of course, but they had to be people that disappearances would not be noticed by ordinary mages. They went after people who had magic, lots of it, but did not know of it. The people they found were mostly young adults and children, and they took them from their homes and used sensitive to remove them from their parent's memories. These people went through several stages of training, in magic and in combat, and when they were done they were hidden away. They were, if you like, frozen in time. Several of these people were sorcerers that people had forgotten about. Who were powerful but had chosen to live lives away from crowds. They took them by force and removed their memories. They then trained them and then hid them away and gave them mortal lives. These people need to be rescued, and the sorcerers need to be returned to their own world."

"Wow." said Valkyrie. "That's... unbelievable."

"It is. But I assure you that the informant is completely reliable."

"How do we recover their memories?" asked Skulduggery.

"This has been going on for a few centuries. The mortals families will long be dead. The mortals themselves will predictable be in the same state physically and mentally, and I think it will be better if we give them new lives. The sorcerers however should be easy, my source tells me, all you would need to do is say their taken name to them."

"That is rather easy." said Tanith, "Too easy. Do we know who they are?"

"We know their names." said China, "And where they are. But not who is who."

"Oh," said Valkyrie. "So we just have to read some names of a list and they should be okay?"

"I believe so."

"Right." said Ghastly, "And you want us to track them down? All of them?"

"If you wouldn't mind." said China, smiling at him. It didn't have the same effect as it used to.

"Just us four?" said Tanith.

"We have a dozen cleavers at your disposal and I'm sure you can call in The Monster Hunters to help you if you can drag them away from their dragon hunting."

Ghastly frowned, "But dragons don't exist?"

Skulduggery went to speak but was cut off by Valkyrie. "But we saw one! We found it in the caves beneath Gordon's house. It was huge and angry and it was so cool! It breathed fire and everything and its name is Gordon!"

"Really?" said Tanith, grinning. "You named the fearsome dragon after your uncle? Cool."

Ghastly turned to Skulduggery, "A dragon?"

"Yes."

"Cool." Ghastly said, shrugging.

"But how did they get down to the caves?" asked Valkyrie, "How did they kn-" she paused and looked at Skulduggery, "Oh."

"What?" he said,

"You told them."

"No I did not."

"Why?"

"They were really excited and asked really nicely."

Valkyrie glared at him. "You told them where to find Gordon The Dragon."

Skulduggery hesitated, "Not the exact location."

Valkyrie frowned, "What if they tame him before I get the chance? What if they come out riding him and I'll look stupid because I found the dragon but am not riding it?"

"Uh."

"What if they find it's cool dragon eggs and they hatch and they raise the baby dragons as their own?"

"I highly doubt that will happen."

"It could! If they come out riding a dragon then I will never forgive you."

"Right."

There was a pause. Ghastly glanced at Tanith. She grinned.

"Do you have a list of places and names for us?" asked Skulduggery.

"Yes." said China, stepping forwards and handing him some paper. "However first I recommend that you find the Monster Hunters and either work with them or just let them know about what is going on. Just find them."

"Yes!" said Valkyrie, "I mean...okay, yeah. We'll find them."

"You won't be going near the dragon." said Skulduggery.

"His name is Gordon." said Valkyrie.

Skulduggery sighed. "Yes, of course." he turned to China, "We'll be on our way then."

"Good luck." she said, as they turned to walk away. "Dragon's aren't allowed in the Sanctuary, Valkyrie."

Valkyrie turned around and smiled, "Now that's just mean." she said as she and Skulduggery walked out of the room. Ghastly could hear her excited babbling about dragons as the door shut behind them.

"Same for us then?" asked Tanith.

"Yes." said China, passing Ghastly a folded piece of paper.

"I'll need to get changed first." said Ghastly, gesturing to his training clothes "But it won't take long."

"I see." said China, "Would you mind contacting Dexter Vex and Saracen Rue, and inform them of the situation?"

"Not at all." said Ghastly, "They've had had enough time for their 'Lives Of Adventure'. It'll be nice to make them work for a change."

China smiled. "Good. I shall see you soon, I hope."

"Goodbye." said Tanith, and China nodded

They walked towards the door, and Ghastly passed Tanith the list of names. She glanced at it, and passed it back. Tanith raised a hand in farewell.

"Good luck." China called as the door shut behind them.


	4. Chapter 4: Valkyrie

Valkyrie was agitated. She wasn't agitated by the fact she was down in the caves below Gordon's house again. She wasn't agitated by the the thought of all of the monsters that lurked down here in the darkness. She wasn't even agitated by the fact that because her magic was straight from the Source, she would be a beacon for every single monster in these caves, and a feast if they got their hands, or whatever else they had, on her.

In reality, Valkyrie was agitated because of the dragon. It wasn't because of the sheer size of it or the fire that speed from its mouth or the talons that were as long as she was tall. She was agitated because she didn't want The Monster Hunters to steal the dragon she had found and named. She wanted to find it and train it into a fearsome pet, and grin as bad guys trembled at the thought of Valkyrie Cain and Gordon The Dragon. Valkyrie wanted to ride Gordon The Dragon into the sunset and wave at Gracious and Donegan as their faces fell with shame.

Piercing through the fog of her fantasies, she heard Skulduggery sigh and say; "You're thinking about the dragon again, I can tell."

Valkyrie turned the beam of her torch to his face. It lit up his skull and made shadows dance in his eye sockets.

"So?" said Valkyrie, frowning.

"It isn't going to happen."

"It might."

"It won't."

Valkyrie glared at him and turned her torch to the path of front of them again, "Don't crush my dreams." she said. Skulduggery sighed.

They walked on for a while through the caves, towards were they thought they'd seen the dragon. Occasionally, a bug, or something equally gross, would cross their path, and Valkyrie would kick it violently back into the darkness. They came to a wall of broken rock that wasn't there the last time they had been here.

"Gracious and Donegan's work, I assume." said Skulduggery, examining the wall.

"How do you know?" asked Valkyrie.

Skulduggery turned his skull to her. "You tell me."

"Ermm..." said Valkyrie, looking at the rubble closely, "The singe marks? And...craters from their energy throwing?"

"Yes. It looks like they were attacked and they collapsed the tunnel to get away."

"But dont they have Fletcher with them now?"

"Yes but there's no point in Fletcher teleporting them out just so they can start from the beginning."

"Ah," said Valkyrie, "I see. Are we going to have to... go through?"

"That would be easier."

Valkyrie groaned and Skulduggery wrapped his arm around her. Valkyrie clutched his waist and closed her eyes. She felt the rock around them shift in a roar, and she kept her mouth and eyes tightly closed as gravel hit her face. She held her breath for what seemed ages and then they appeared on the other side.

"See?" murmured Skulduggery, letting go of her, "That wasn't so bad."

Valkyrie grimaced and brushed dirt from her shoulder. "I hate that."

They walked on and after a while the tunnel widened into a huge cavern that Valkyrie recognised. They had arrived. The tentacles of the monster were still hanging from the ceiling, and she shuddered at the memory. A light from a lantern was glowing by the edge of the drop, and a figure was lounging against a rock. As they approached, the figure stood.

"Skulduggery? Valkyrie?" said Fletcher, squinting at them, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Gracious and Donegan." said Valkyrie, walking over to him. By the lantern on the floor was a huge metal hook that had been hammered into the rock. Attached to it were several ropes which disappeared over the edge. "Are they down there?"

"Yup." said Fletcher. "I'm supposed to jump off the edge and teleport them out if I hear the signal."

"And what is the signal?" asked Skulduggery, moving to look at the ropes.

"Screaming apparently."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and glanced over the edge. The ropes disappeared into the darkness a few metres down. "And what if you get into trouble up here?"

Fletcher frowned. "They didn't say, but I assume that I just scream heroically and jump off the edge."

Valkyrie grinned. She turned to Skulduggery, "Do we fly down then?"

"And how am I supposed to carry you all?" said Skulduggery, "No, you can stay here. I'll take Fletcher down and then we'll all teleport back up."

Valkyrie's face fell. "Aw, but-"

"You are not going near the dragon, Valkyrie."

She closed her mouth and folded her arms. She looked off into the darkness, a frown on her face.

"Are you sulking now?" asked Skulduggery

She said nothing.

"I'll take that as a yes." he said. He held his arm out, "Fletcher?"

"Right, yes." sad Fletcher and took his arm.

"If you need anything..." began Skulduggery, as they lifted into the air. Valkyrie cut him off with a glare.

"Okay." he said, "Sorry for interrupting your sulking. We'll be back in a second."

They disappeared over the edge.

Valkyrie turned away and collapsed onto the ground, staring at a rock. She had wanted to find that dragon so much, but instead she was here on some boring version of guard duty. Why were dragons so cool? Apart from the wings and the fire-breathing they were pretty much giant lizards. It wasn't like they were reallyunusual, like mermaids or griffins which were two species kind of mashed together. There were lots of other supposedly mythical creatures that were strange as well, like a unicorn or a pegasus or...what was the other one that she'd always liked? She couldn't think of its name or picture it. Did it begin with l or m or something similar? She thought it was from some sort of old mythology, maybe Greek or Egyptian but she wasn't sure. She couldn't remember. Not that it mattered.

Valkyrie stood, walked over to the drop and looking down. She couldn't see a thing. She kicked some pebbles and they vanished. She couldn't even see the orange glow of the dragon's fire like last time. That was disappointing. She walked along the edge to the tentacles, which were curling madly, searching for the prey that it knew was close. She shivered at the memory of being dragged towards that gaping mouth. She picked up a stone and launched it at the tentacles. It hit exactly where she'd wanted it to and they twisted and reeled in apparent frustration. Valkyrie smiled.

She sat once again and lent against a large bit of rock protruding from the ground. She was bored. The Monster Hunters must of gotten pretty far down if it was taking Skulduggery this long to get to them. However he did have Fletcher with him, which decreased the speed of any simple task by about 50%. Sighing, she closed her eyes and waited.

A few seconds later came a sound. Maybe a grunt. And occasional clopping. It came from behind her quite a way away. It didn't sound like the others so Valkyrie kept very still, and tried to limit her breathing. She opened her eyes very slowly but that didn't do much good because she wouldn't dare turn around. The clopping was travelling from side to side, at walking pace. There were more grunts and heavy breathing as whatever the thing was moved around. Valkyrie didn't dare breathe and she kept her eyes fixed ahead on the drop that seemed more intimidating than usual. She swallowed. Waited.

The sound grew closer, but she still didn't move, hoping that it wouldn't see her and move on. The sound grew faster and louder, the click-clacking echoing eerily around the cave. Then it slowed to a stop and Valkyrie could almost picture the thing looking at her. She readied herself, bracing her hands against the floor.

The thing roared and the noise rushed towards her. Valkyrie waited until the last minute before diving to the side and coming up in a crouch. The creature skidded to a stop, barely escaping tumbling over the edge, and let out an ear splitting roar of frustration. She glanced at the thing for a few seconds and saw that it was huge, about three times her size, and human shaped. It had a bare torso and hair everywhere, with a bulls head instead of a mans.

Minotaur?

The minotaur turned and spotted Valkyrie, grunting and showing off yellow teeth and yellow eyes. It was still standing right on the edge. She stood and flicked out her hand, feeling the white lightning erupt from her finger tips and hit her target; the minotaur's chest. It went straight around it like the creature wasn't really there.

"Okay." Valkyrie muttered.

It gave another roar that made Valkyrie's bones shake. It's hoof pawed the ground for a few seconds before it charged. She just managed to twist away out of it's way before it went running through the place she'd just been standing. It stumbled to a stop and Valkyrie realised that it was her standing near the edge now. She swallowed.

It ran at her and yet again she leaped out of the way at the last second, hoping it would run off the edge. It didn't. One of its black horns had caught her shoulder, and the force of it sent her stumbling. That would bruise. It had also managed to stop itself before it fell. Damn.

The minotaur turned and faced her, and Valkyrie realised she needed a new plan if she wanted to stay alive. She stood and found herself zipping her coat, which was a habit when she felt like she was about to have a fight. It had saved her life many times. She really needed to thank Ghastly for that at some point. She took in a breath and felt the energy form around her clenched fists in two domes. She looked at the minotaur.

It charged, and this time Valkyrie knew what she was going to do. Using the white lighting, she propelled herself to the side. It kind of felt like flying. She twisted in the air and landed on her feet, using her magic as brakes. Now she was on the edge, lightning curling up her arms. She only had one shot at this, and if it went wrong...well, she didn't want to think about it. It spun around and blared at her with those yellow eyes, she waited.

"C'mon..." she murmured.

It roared and ran at her.

"Good boy." Valkyrie said and smiled. She waited and pushed the white energy out of her hands, hoping it would make her fly a little like Iron Man. She angled herself backwards slightly, She was launched into the air and she curled in a ball, making herself as small as possible. The minotaur passed beneath her and she placed her feet on its head and pushed off, hoping to grab the cliff ledge. For a moment, relief washed through her, but then she felt something catch against her ankle and pull her backwards. She cursed and cried out as she fell with the minotaur, and she tried to untangle herself. Her trouser leg had caught on its horn. Of course.

They fell but Valkyrie managed to yank her foot free and push away from it. It snarled at grabbed at her with it's clawed fingers, but she used the white lightning to propel herself away from it. She flew through the air and fought down a scream as she continued to spiral downwards. Iron Man made it look easy. She needed to slow down. Skulduggery couldn't catch her unless she slowed down.

Beating down the urge to panic, Valkyrie forced her hands to push out that hot energy, slowly at first but then faster as she could feel it taking effect. She watched the minotaur disappear in the kept her handslocked, by her sides. They got hotter and hotter until she let out the tiniest bit of energy out. She felt herself slow slightly, and very carefully she let out more and more energy until she had slowed almost completely. She wanted to smile but she refused to let herself. She didn't want to tempt fate.

The effort to keep herself in the air was immense, but the thought that she was practically flying by herself sent any sensations of exhaustion out of her mind. Her mind went to Darquesse, and the joy she had felt when she had first flown on her own. Guilt coursed through her and she almost let herself fall in shame. If she had just held on, and not given up, she could of saved more people. But she didn't. She was weak and foolish and she deserved whatever pain she felt from the day Darquesse had been sent away. She tried to swallow down that lump in her throat, but failed. She could of saved Stephanie and Solomon. They shouldn't of died. Tanith had told her how Sanguine had died protecting her. He had tried to kill Valkyrie on many occasions, but that didn't mean he should of died like that. Valkyrie tried to push away all of those guilty thoughts so she could save herself ad get back to Skulduggery and her family, but one thought pushed through her mentally barriers and made her drop a few metres in the air.

She had murdered her sister.

Before she could dwell on it, she forced it into the dark corner of her mind that contained all of her bad memories. Valkyrie imagined beating it away with a stick.

Valkyrie pushed out more energy and she stopped, hovering there. It was very difficult to keep herself up right and she felt like if she moved then she'd go spiralling off into a wall or something. At least she could see the wall. But not the ropes that were supposed to be holding Gracious and Donegan if they fell. Surely she hadn't fallen past them?

Maybe that wasn't it. Maybe when she had propelled herself away from the minotaur she had gone futher to the right that what she'd thought. It was fine. All she had to do was travel along the wall until she found the ropes again. It was fine.

It didn't feel very fine.

Panic was beginning to leak into her her mind and nasty visions of her getting lost in the open air and dying surrounded by darkness invaded her mind. She took deep breaths, remaining calm. She couldn't freak out now, she'd likely fall. She could freak out later when she was out of these stupid caves and back on solid ground.

Gently, she moved herself forward. Valkyrie's toes were beginning to tingle and her feet were ice cold, which was what always happened when she was up high. For once she was grateful for the gloom because it prevented her from seeing the bottom of the pit. If there was one. She moved herself towards the wall very slowly, despite the immense effort that it took to hover. She looked for a ledge or something similar to grab onto, until she saw a small looking cave protruding from the wall. For a second, Valkyrie hesitated. She doubted that any dark tunnels in these caves was something to celebrate. Anything could be in there. Those creatures that had got her stuck in that tunnel could be in there. She could get stuck in another tunnel. She fought down the panic. Again.

Valkyrie gave herself three seconds to get from in the air to the ledge. She counted in her head, taking a deep breath on each number. She fought away the memories of getting stuck in a tunnel, and launched herself forward. She thought about half a way into her "flight" that she had probably used a lot more force than necessary to get her to the ledge. She knew for certain when she went face-first into the wall, and fell down onto the thin ledge. She stabled herself with her hands and let out a groan. She stood and brushed the dirt off her clothes, and checked her nose for any blood. There was none. That had hurt.

Valkyrie muttered to herself about practicing her flight skills, but began walking along the ridge in the direction were she thought the ropes would be; left. Her hands were shaking and slightly numb, which was a strange side effect from using her power.

After a few long minutes of walking, Valkyrie came to the part where the ledge stopped. She stayed a metre or so from the edge, just in case it was unstable. She looked around and saw nothing extraordinary on the wall or around the drop, but she decided to look closer at the wall and floor. She saw that the wall had a few tennis ball sized craters that had black tinged edges. Gracious and Donegan perhaps? Valkyrie put her hand against it and felt a slight warmth on her palm. It wasn't that old. She moved carefully to the edge, her hands in position to catch her if the floor collapsed beneath her. She looked down, and saw nothing except darkness. She looked up and saw the torn edge of several ropes. Valkyrie felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

Valkyrie didn't want to worry, everybody would be fine. Fletcher was with them and even if they fell he could teleport them to the top. Skulduggery could fly. They were okay. She knew that she needed to get back to the top, but she wasn't quite sure how yet. Then an idea popped into her head. She tensed, steeling herself for what she was about to do. She stood as close to the edge as she dared, looking up at the rope, and counted to three. On three she pushed off with her magic and flew into the air. Valkyrie did her best to keep herself steadily rising, but she ended up shooting towards the rope like a rocket. She passed it, cursed, and cut off her magic and threw out her hands to catch the rope. She gasped as she missed. She managed to grab the rope and her weight dragged her down and gave her a viscous rope burn. Just as she got a decent grip, the rope dropped suddenly by a few metres and that sent her heart to her throat. It stopped abruptly and Valkyrie swung into the wall, her clothes absorbing what little impact there was. She clung to the rope, swinging slightly in the air. She let out the breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. Valkyrie swallowed and avoided looking down

She hung there for a moment, recovering. After she'd had a moment, she braced her feet against the rock and pulled up, grunting with the effort. She took a step and pulled herself up. Each step moved her about thirty centimetres. This was going to take a while.

"What are you trying to achieve by that?" said Skulduggery.

Valkyrie yelped and nearly lost grip of the rope. She twisted her head around and saw Skulduggery in the air, his arms folded, leaning against a wall of air.

"How long have you been there?" said Valkyrie, frowning.

"Not long." he said, holding out his arms.

"Did you find Gracious and Donegan?" she asked, ignoring his arms.

"Yes. Come on." he said, motioning her to jump. "They weren't too happy about being dragged away from their dragon searching, so I want to get back up there so they don't start looking again."

Valkyrie hesitated. Unwillingly, she glanced down.

"I'm not going to drop you, Valkyrie." he said.

She bit her lip. "I know."

"Then jump."

Valkyrie inhaled and then let herself fall back into Skulduggery's waiting arms. The second that she was in the air made her stomach writhe like it was filled with snakes. Skulduggery adjusted his grip on her and then began to fly upwards.

"Why are you down here anyway?" he asked.

Valkyrie retold her story about the minotaur.

"A minotaur?" he said, "You're sure?"

Valkyrie nodded.

Skulduggery sighed, "Do me a favour and don't tell The Monster Hunters about it until we're well away from here."

"Gotcha." said Valkyrie as the came over the ledge. Skulduggery set her down.

"Hey Valkyrie." said Gracious and Donegan in sync.

"Hey guys." she said, smiling.

"Oh there you are." said Fletcher, who was standing by Gracious and Donegan, "Where'd you go?"

"Got attacked by a..." she glanced at Skulduggery and then The Monster Hunters, "...some sort of creature. It took us both off the edge. I managed to slow my fall, the... creature did not."

"What creature was it?" asked Donegan.

"Something...weird. With horns."

"Oh." said Donegan.

"You can't remember anything else?" asked Gracious, frowning.

"Nope." she said immediately, "Sorry."

The was a awkward silence.

"Did you, um, find the dragon then?" asked Valkyrie.

The Monster Hunters drooped.

"We don't want to talk about it." they said sadly.

"Aw," said Valkyrie, fighting the evil grin that was threatening to spread across her face. "What a shame."

They looked at her, and she grinned. Everybody was quiet.

"Next time..." Gracious muttered beneath his breath.

"Good luck with that." said Valkyrie.

Gracious and Donegan looked like they were going to say something, but Skulduggery intterupted. "You should get to The Sanctuary, and to China. You know she doesn't like to be kept waiting. Fletcher, do you think you could teleport them there?"

"Of course." he said.

"Great." said Donegan, the awkward moment before forgotten. Himself and Gracious took Fletcher's arms.

"Bye." said Donegan.

"See ya." said Gracious, waving with his free hand.

Fletcher grinned, "Bye guys." and they were gone.

Valkyrie turned to Skulduggery and smiled, "What now?" she asked.

"You are very happy that Gracious and Donegan didn't find Gordon The Dragon aren't you?"

"Very, very happy."

"They'll try again you know."

"I know."

"They might find it next time."

"I don't want to think about it."

They began to walk, and Valkyrie put her hands in her pockets. "What now?" she repeated.

"Well we have to track down the sorcerers that have for their identities."

"You have the list of names?"

"Of course."

"And location?"

He sighed, "Yes."

"So where are we going?"

Skulduggery paused and pulled out the list from his pocket. He studied it for a moment.

"England." he said, "We're going to England."


	5. Chapter 5: Tanith

After Ghastly had changed out of his gym clothes, they decided to try and call Dexter and Saracen. Ever since both of their near death experiences, they had run off to live a life of excitement. Tanith didn't blame them; Saracen had had a wall collapse on him and Dexter had had a remnant ripped out of his throat. She remembered the killer sore throat she had after her remnant had been evicted, and winced when she realised that she had been healed before she awoke. Dexter had been left there to die, but despite all of the odds stacking against him, he lived.

Ghastly pulled out his phone, "I doubt this will work."

Tanith shrugged, "Worth a shot."

Ghastly dialled Saracen's number. It rang for a good minute and Ghastly was about to hang up when Saracen answered.

"Ghastly?" yawned Saracen, a croak in his voice.

"Hello Saracen. You sound tired."

"Well, I would be. It's eight o'clock in the morning here."

"Well, do you think you'll be able to drag yourself out of bed?"

"Urmm..." Saracen mumbled. Tanith heard the rustle of what she assumed to be bedsheets on the other end of the line. Saracen cleared his throat. "...why?"

Ghastly recounted China's story.

"Oh...oh right." mumbled Saracen, "I'm sure, in theory, I could get on the case."

"Are you busy?"

Saracen was quiet for a moment, "Not busy busy." he said,

Ghastly narrowed his eyes and Tanith smirked.

"Where exactly are you, Saracen?" asked Ghastly.

There was a long pause.

"Saracen?"

Saracen sighed, "Vegas."

Ghastly took a long breath and closed his eyes. He spoke very slowly "So when you've been telling people that you're very busy, you've been gambling, drinking, and flirting. To put it nicely."

"Not really..." he tried, but gave up. "Yes" he said, and Tanith heard him swallow. "I just fancied a...break after everything."

Ghastly sighed, defeated. "Well if you do manage to separate yourself from your 'break' then let me know and I'll give you the list of names."

"I'm sure it'll be soon." Saracen said. He yawned again, obviously stretching.

"It better be soon." said Ghastly, and hung up.

Tanith turned to him, "Well that went well."

"I knew I should of called Dexter instead." Ghastly grumbled.

"So what now?" asked Tanith.

"We track down the sorcerers. When- sorry, if Saracen decides to call back, then we'll divide the people equally between us, but now I think we'll just work our way down."

"Who's the first?"

Ghastly reached into his pocket and pulled out the list. "Somebody with a given name of Kyle Myers."

"And where is he?"

"Luckily for us, he's in Ireland. Obviously right now he's mortal and he thinks he's a mechanic."

"How long with it take us to get there?"

"Not long, about two hours."

Tanith nodded, "Okay. I think I can manage that. Maybe. So what's the plan? Are we just going to shout out names at him until he goes back to normal?"

"Yes...unfortunately we can't really do anything else." he said and shrugged.

"Oh. Cool." said Tanith, standing and swinging her sword strap around her back. "To the van?"

"To the van." Ghastly confirmed.

Ghastly drove while Tanith sat in the passenger seat. She tried to hide her boredom. She had always hated car journeys when she felt like she had somewhere to be and a job to do. They were irritating. She knew that most people found staring out of a window and listening to the radio quite relaxing, but in Tanith's mind it was just a waste of time. She leant back into her seat and tried to go to that relaxing place that people often talked of but, annoyingly,nothing happened. She held back a sigh. The radio was playing a Green Day song quite softly, and Tanith listened to it intensely, trying to take her mind of her boredom. 21 Guns. It was a good song. She hummed along for a while but then sighed as she forgot the next part.

Ghastly glanced at her but then returned his eyes to the road. "You really dont like car journeys, do you?" he said, smiling.

She sighed again. "No...they're just boring. And pointless. I just want to get to the place, get the job done, and move on. It doesn't help when I'm playing out every scenario of what could happen in my head."

"You mean you're impatient." Ghastly said, laughing slightly.

Tanith thought. "I guess that's another word for it." She began to tap her foot. "Will you talk to me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Talk to me." she said. "I dont care what about. Talking takes my mind off the travelling."

"Oh, right." said Ghastly, looking at her.

"What?"

"I dont know what to talk about." he said, shrugging.

"Okay." said Tanith, thinking of some of the strange games Valkyrie had made her play. "How about we make assumptions about each other and if the person is right then they get to ask a question that has to be answered honestly."

Ghastly looked at her, "Does that work?"

"Me and Val play it sometimes , it's...interesting.

"What do you ask each other?"

Tanith smiled. "That's our little secret."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll play your game."

"Excellent. I'll start."

"Alright."

"You tell people that your mother was a tailor and your father was a boxer but it is actually the other away round."

Ghastly hesitated. "Correct." he said.

"I knew it." said Tanith, smiling.

"How?"

"I noticed that when you talk about your mother, you talk about how great a warrior she was, but you barely talk about your father during the war with Mevolent."

"Well, he died before war with Mevolent but well done. You noticed that?"

Tanith fought the blush that wanted to appear on her cheeks. "Yes." she said.

"Okay, you get a question."

"Hmm, what is the first bit of clothing you ever made?" said Tanith

Ghastly considered, "That would of been..." he thought hard, thinking back around four hundred years. "A scarf." He decided.

"A scarf?"

"Yes, I made it for my mother when I was five. It was over three meters long, lopsided, and made of every colour I could find. It was ugly but my mother said she loved it all the same."

Ghastly shifted uncomfortably, Tanith could tell he had never told anyone before. She leant over and kissed him on the cheek "That's sweet." she said honestly.

Ghastly smiled but kept his eyes on the road. "My turn." he said.

"Go for it." said Tanith, a smile lingering on her face.

Ghastly thought for a moment. "You had some sort of special training when you were a child that made you into the warrior you are today."

Tanith swallowed and licked her lips. "Yes."

"Time for my question."

"Shoot."

"What was the inspiration for your taken name?"

Tanith decided to answer honestly, despite the fact that it brought back memories she wanted to banish from her mind.

"The name Low came from the people I trained with as a child." she explained softly, "They were always teasing me and calling me highborn because of the proud way I acted. I was supposed to be a shadow. Someone who you would glance at and forget instantly. So because of the way I used to be, arrogant, proud, and highborn, they tormented me relentlessly, They thought I was weak."

"So you took the name Low to contrast against that?"

"Sort of." she said, "I did it because it felt right, and more like me. I wanted to show my parents when I came out that I was different, that I was strong. I thought it made a point. I wanted them to be proud of me"

"And the Tanith part?" asked Ghastly, looking across at her.

Tanith dug her nails into her palm, and took a breath. She paused for the longest time before saying: "She was the first woman I killed."

Ghastly turned to her and she felt the van slow down slightly. He looked concerned.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine." said Tanith, and when his face didn't change she said "Seriously, dont worry about it. I've gotten past the guilt, believe me. Its just..."

"Just..?"

"You're the only person I've ever told." she said, and smiled at him.

He smiled back. "I'm honoured."

Tanith didn't ask to continue the game and neither did Ghastly. Ghastly turned up the radio and they both listened to music as rain started to fall from the sky.

Finding Kyle Myers wasn't exactly difficult. He had posters and signs for "Myers Mechanics" up all over the town, and all Tanith and Ghastly had to do was follow them. The roads only had a few cars, and barely anyone was outside. After a few minutes driving through the town and following the signs, they eventually found themselves driving merrily down a gravel road which had deflated red balloons hanging droopily off trees. They came up to the place and it was surrounded by vehicles in various conditions. Some were very shiny and brand new, but others were made half of rust and had pieces that were missing. There was a building made of brick and metal, which was obviously where they did repairs, and then there was also a small section made of new looking brick which looked like it acted as a reception. Kyle Myers, Tanith assumed, was the figure she could see tinkering with a car in the garage. He seemed to be the only one in there. It was a Sunday, and usually that was people's chosen day off.

Ghastly parked up and they got out. Tanith reluctantly left her sword tucked under her chair. She pulled on her coat and turned her coat collar up against the rain. Sometimes she wished she had a hood, but it would make it more difficult to look around. Ghastly tapped his collarbones and activated his façade. She avoided looking at him, it was unnerving seeing him without the scars and she much prefered him with them. Hurrying towards the garage, she raised a hand to wave at Kyle Myers, and he blinked in surprise. He didn't look like he usually had company on Sunday's. She walked inside and Ghastly followed, his hands in his pockets. Suddenly surrounded by the delicious smell of petrol and warm rubber, Tanith inhaled, thinking of her beloved motorbike back at the Sanctuary. She had always loved that smell. In her own garage back at home, where her motorbike usually lived, it smelt exactly the same. Tanith loved the smell so much that she had put an old mattress in there so she could sit and read surrounded by the fumes. Kyle was wearing a dark navy jumpsuit with several splashes of motor oil on it and a rip on one knee that you could see his normal trousers through. He had dark hair and dull blue eyes that looked at the pair of them curiously. He straightened up from over the engine he was examining and wiped a hand over his forehead, leaving a black smudge there.

"Er, hello." he said, looking at them both.

"Hello" Tanith said brightly, pasting a smile onto her face. "Are you Kyle Myers?"

"Uh, yes." he said, looking ever so slightly bewildered.

"Great!" she enthused. "We have heard so much about you."

"Erm, you..have?" said Kyle doubtfully. His eyes flickered over to Ghastly, who looked slightly intimidating hovering around Tanith's shoulder.

"Yes. I heard you're the best mechanic for miles." She smiled.

"Oh." he said. Tanith could tell that he liked the compliment because he stood a little straighter and his chest swelled. He looked at her through clouded eyes.

"We were wondering if you could take a look at our van for us?" Ghastly asked with what semmed to be a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Kyle's eyes didn't waver from Tanith as he spoke, "Sure...I can find time."

"Amazing! You're amazing." Tanith turned to Ghastly, "I told you he could do it. You didn't believe me."

"I'll admit I had my doubts." said Ghastly.

"I never had any doubts!" laughed Tanith, "Did you, Kyle?"

"Have what?"

"Doubts."

"Doubts?"

"About yourself?"

"Me? Yes."

Tanith's face fell, "Awwh." she said.

He frowned, "Wait, no."

"Excellent!" She strided off, and Kyle followed her like a lost sheep. She tapped the bonnet of the van "This is our van. Please fix it."

"I'll try my be-" began Kyle, but Tanith was already out of earshot. She stood by Ghastly and watched Kyle back as he began to tinker.

"How long do you think it'll take him to realise there's nothing wrong with it?" she asked.

"For any normal person, maybe a minute. For him? Probably about ten minutes." Ghastly replied.

Tanith grinned.

"So how shall we go about this name business?" asked Tanith.

Ghastly shrugged, "Any way we can, I suppose. He'll probably end up thinking we're insane, especially after that performance."

Tanith rolled her eyes, "It wasn't that bad."

"It wasn't that good either." he said, smiling.

"Dont lie to yourself, it was Oscar worthy."

"Of course."

Tanith looked over at Kyle again and frowned, "He looks really confused."

"He does, doesn't he?"

"Do you think he's onto us?"

Kyle stood and looked over at them, the same confused look on his face. He strode over, wiping his hands on his trousers.

"Umm," he said, looking back and forth at them, "What did you say was wrong with it?"

"We didn't." said Ghastly.

"Its the engine." said Tanith, but then she hesitated, "Or at least I think it is. I dont know parts of cars."

Kyle looked blank, "The engine is the bit that makes it go."

"Then yes," Tanith said nodding enthusiastically, "It was the engine."

"There's nothing wrong with the engine though."

"Wait, what bit is the engine again?"

"The bit that makes it g-"

"No, what does it look like?"

Kyle sighed, "It's inside the bonnet-"

"Wait so its not the round things on the outside?"

"You...you mean the wheels?"

"Yes I think so."

"They dont make it go."

"Yes they do?"

"No." he said impatiently, "They dont."

"Oh." Tanith said miserably. "Elliott Fickle."

"Sorry?" said Kyle, looking at her strangely.

"It's what I use for swear words. Elliott Fickle." she said, and scanned his face closely. Nothing. Silly names."

"Yes," chipped in Ghastly, "Names like Elliott Fickle, Oberon Vast, Tyranny Chirp, and Goliath Hearth."

Kyle's face paled suddenly and he swallowed. He looked at them back and forth, his head swinging from side to side. He didn't look like he had just remembered who he was. He looked scared.

"Um." he stammered, "I should probably- um- go. I have stuff to do...lots. Um..."

"Kyle?" said Ghastly, stepping forward. Kyle stumbled backwards into the garage and fell against a table.

"You're you're with them!" he spluttered, panic in his eyes.

"With who?" asked Ghastly.

"Dont act dumb!" he cried, throwing his hand out. Clutching in his fist was a screwdriver. "Stay away from me! I told your people I wanted no part in it! Get away!"

"Easy." said Ghastly, eyeing the screwdriver carefully. They didn't know what sorcerer he was, but if he had regained some of his memories like it was rumored then they had to be cautious.

"Who?" urged Tanith, stepping forward so she was beside Ghastly. Kyle swung the screwdriver in a wide arch and Tanith stepped back, her hands in the air. Almost in despair, he dropped the screwdriver and placed his hands over his ears.

"Please get away from me." he said softly. "Just leave me alone. I like who I am. I have a wife and two kids and I won't leave them, even if this is a fake me."

Tanith and Ghastly hesitated.

"Okay." said Ghastly after a while, "Okay. We're sorry. We will go now, alright?"

Kyle nodded, some colour returning to his cheeks. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry about freaking you out." Tanith said, smiling apologetically.

Kyle gave a weak smile back, "Your friend with the piercings freaked me out more."

Ghastly nodded like he knew what he was talking about, "Sorry about it him-"

"Her" corrected Kyle.

"Her." muttered Ghastly. Kyle looked at him with wide eyes and Tanith could see some of the fear creeping back in. Thinking fast, she took Ghastly's arm and smiled at Kyle."We'll be going now." she said, and Ghastly nodded.

"Bye" said Kyle.

"Goodbye." said Tanith.

They walked back to the van and got in. Tanith slid onto her seat and did her seatbelt. She turned to Ghastly, who was beginning to turn the van around.

"Well that was weird." she said.

"Yes it was..." he said.

"So he already had some sort of idea about who he is...or was?"

"I think so." he said, "He only started getting scared when we mentioned the names."

"Someone must be tracking them down and trying to bring them back. They're not with us though obviously."

"Remember what he said? 'I want no part in it'? What if they're tracking them down so they can work for them?"

"Who? Ravel's people?"

Ghastly stiffened. He was still metaphorically wounded from Ravel's betrayal, even after he died. Tanith knew he didn't hate him as much as he used to because the remaining Dead Men had gotten justice for Shudder's death. He still hated him, of course, but some of the rage he had felt had been replaced by a numb sort of sadness. How could Ravel betray the people he had spent decades protecting?

"Probably..." Ghastly muttered.

Tanith decided to change the subject, "So what do we do now?"

"We should find him and tell him his name."

Tanith was silent and looked out of the window.

"What it is?" said Ghastly.

"It's just...he has a family. A life. Not an amazing life but a life all of the same. We're taking away a father and a husband. He has a job, friends, family, and a whole personality that are going to be taken away."

"Kyle Myers isn't who he really is."

"I know...but still. It's like Kyle Myers is a whole separate person who exists, and we are just going to change him into someone else he can't even remember being. It just seems cruel."

"We have to do it." said Ghastly, but he didn't sound positive. "There's a sorcerer with a life in there too, and he was always there. Kyle Myers was created to hide the sorcerer away. He's a fake."

Tanith sighed. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I," said Ghastly, "But it has to be done."

She said nothing.

They'd waited for a few hours for Kyle to finish working. He had started off in his car at around six o'clock, heading out into town. Tanith had borrowed a motorbike so she could follow him without him knowing it. Technically, she had stolen it, but it had been taken from a man that had been away for a while and he wouldn't miss it. It took her a while to find a bike suitable to steal because she didn't want to cause any unnecessary hassle. The man she'd taken it from had many soggy newspapers sitting on his doorstep, and that had clued Tanith in. After a closer inspection that she carried out by simply unlocking the back door and walking in, she found letters piled up underneath the letter slot. The motorbike wasn't exactly in peak condition like Tanith's, but it worked. She could tell that it was fairly old and rarely used. She'd put it back later.

If they followed Kyle in the van, then he would of saw them and panicked. They didn't want him to be scared. Scared people are paranoid people and that makes them difficult to handle. Tanith trailed him on the motorbike, her hair tied back in an attempt to change her appearance. The bike had no helmet by it and there wasn't one in the house, which was disappointing. She wasn't worried about herself of course, she'd fallen off more vehicles than she could bother to remember, but she didn't want Kyle to look in his mirror and see her face. She memorised the path he took, remembering the turns and the landmarks and the street names. He arrived at his house and turned into the driveway. Before he could see her, she sped up and went to the end of the street. She stopped the motorbike and parked in the shadows, hiding. Her eyes were the only thing visible, gleaming in the darkness. Kyle got out of his car, looking tired. He slammed the door with a little too much force than necessary and sighed. He walked to the door and checked behind him before unlocking it and slipping inside.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Tanith set off back to where Ghastly was waiting at the motorbike man's house. She put the motorbike back where she found it, turning off the engine. She had to hotwire the bike to get it working, but she soon managed to turn it off again. She walked over to the van and got in, buckling her seatbelt. Ghastly pulled out onto the road and Tanith gave him clear directions to Kyle's house. They pulled over at the end of the road in the darkness. Ghastly turned off the engine.

"How shall we do this?" he murmured, almost to himself.

"Well we should try to do it without alerting his wife and kids."

"Yes," said Ghastly, pulling out a cloaking sphere, "That's possible."

Tanith went to roll her eyes, but stopped herself. "How long have you had that?" she asked.

"Since the Sanctuary."

She sighed. "Right."

They got out of the van and walked down the streets, their heads bowed. They didn't want to attract any unecessary attention. Ghastly had the cloaking sphere clutched in his fist. They came up to Kyle's house and they could hear nothing from inside. The living room curtains were closed but there was no sound emitted from the room and no light leaking out from behind the curtain. The upstairs curtains were drawn too, and they were also all dark. Tanith motioned for Ghastly to follow her and he nodded, walking close to her and activating the cloaking sphere. He twisted it and they disappeared from view. He adjusted it, making sure that it was as small as possible so that they didn't make any walls disapear. Tanith walked round the back, Ghastly sticking closely to her as she navigated around to the back door. She came to a bush and she thought about hopping over it before she realised that they woulldn't be able to hear her crashing around becuase of the sphere. She mentally slapped herself for that one.

She went to the back door and knelt down, pressing her hand against the lock. She allowed herself to drift into the workings of the lock and then her eyes momentarily closed. She heard the click that told her she had done her job, and then she stood and nodded to Ghastly. Ghastly went first, holding the cloaking sphere carefully in one hand as he slowly pushed the door open with the other. It creaked lightly but Tanith hoped that the sphere had prevented that sound from travelling. The slipped inside, not bothering to turn the lights on. They left the back door unlocked incase for some reason they needed to make a quick getaway.

"Hang on." said Tanith, speaking normally but with a slight hesitation, "I'm going to disable the phone.". She walked over to the knee high table in the hallway and knelt down, Ghastly behind her. She pulled out the cord from the wall. She took out her sword slowly so she would not accidentally cut Ghastly and then she cut the line.

"Cool." she said, sliding her sword back into her scabbard,

"Ready?" asked Ghastly,

"Yup." said Tanith as she pulled out the list of names from her pocket.

"Great." he said, "Let's go."

They walked up the stairs quietly despite the fact that the creaks they made were silenced by the cloaking sphere. Tanith kept behind Ghastly and prepared herself to read off as many names as she could. They walked through the upstairs hallway and went to the first room. They peeked inside and saw what was unmistakably a young boys room. There was a plaque that said "Keep out of Matthew's room!" on the wall. There were nerf guns scattered on the floor along with many foam bullets, which some of them glowed green in the dark. There were green army men placed in position on a small wooden desk and several battered notebooks lying next to them. The ceiling was littered with glow in the dark stars, which were easily visible in the darkness. On the wall there was an A3 drawing of four people, and it was labeled "Mummy, Daddy, Ella, and Matty" Lying on the bed under a camouflage duvet was a little boy that looked around five or six. He was very cute and he slept soundly. He had a small elephant clutched in his fist.

Tanith felt some sort of guilt run through her. They were taking away this boy's father. He wouldn't know it of course as they were going to call in Geoffrey to make them all forget about Kyle Myers. However it seemed sort of cruel to take away the memories. All of the happy memories of this boy and his father would be taken away and turned into something else. Geoffrey would probably make the mother believe that Kyle had left her, but Tanith was sure he wouldn't add too much painful details.

Tanith and Ghastly walked out without a word, closing the door softly behind them. The walked up the hallway and they passed a door labeled "Sarah". They didn't look in. Tanith didn't want to look.

They walked towards the last room that looked like a bedroom. Carefully, Ghastly pushed open the door and walked inside. On the double bed was a couple, fast asleep. Kyle Myers was on the left side of the bed and on his bedside table was an alarm clock, a watch, and a lamp. On the woman's side was some glasses, a book, and another lamp. The woman shifted in her sleep and Ghastly and Tanith momentarily froze, wondering if they had somehow awoken her. She rolled over and didn't stir.

Slowly, they walked up to Kyle's side. Ghastly passed the cloaking sphere to Tanith, and she got ready to read the names. Ghastly leant over Kyle and reached forward. He placed his hand softly on his shoulder, not gripping at all. A sleeping person would not of felt that, but Kyle did.

His eyes snapped open and he cried out, blinking up at them for a second before slamming his palm into Ghastly's face. There was a loud ringing sound and a flash, and Ghastly fell to his knees, groaning and blinking. Kyle looked at his hands with terror for a few seconds and ran out of the room. Tanith almost dropped the sphere in shock, she went to her knees beside Ghastly, who was grunting and grimacing.

"Ghastly?" she said, a note of panic in her voice, "Can you hear me?" Ghastly?" She shook him, and he groaned again. Tanith heard the back door open and close.

"Get Kyle." he said quietly, rubbing his head.

"Stay here." she said and sprang to her feet, leaving the cloaking sphere with Ghastly in case the woman awoke.

Tanith went to the bedroom window and looked out. Kyle was quivering behind the bushes at the front of the house, shaking and looking at his hands. She opened the window and quietly as she could, keeping her eyes fixed on Kyle in case he moved. She put the notebook with the names in her pocket. She took the shackles from her pocket and held them in her right hand. She climbed onto the window ledge and jumped, landing with ease on the dewy grass. She landed behind Kyle, who was muttering to himself. He hadn't heard her.

"Impossible..." he was whispering.

She positioned herself behind him silently, readying the shackles. She darted forwards and pulled his arms behind him. She clicked the shackles closed and Kyle gasped and looked at her. As if on instinct he flexed his hand, but nothing happened. He looked as if he was about to scream so Tanith clamped a hand over his mouth.

She dragged him backwards to the wall of the house and placed her foot on the wall, feeling gravity shift and change to her desires. She walked up the wall backwards, her eyes on the street so that nobody would see her. Kyle was thrashing madly and weeping, looking terrified.

"Please..." he mumbled against her hand.

"I'm sorry." she said. She was being honest.

The window was locked. Maybe Ghastly was back on his feet and he did it, but she didn't think so. Tanith walked back down to the ground and went round the back again, but also found that door locked too. And uneasy feeling crept into her gut but she pushed it down. Holding Kyle by his shackles, she unlocked the door again. His eyes widened but he was no longer begging. Tanith saw defeat in his eyes.

Stepping into the living room cautiously, Tanith looked around. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. She tugged Kyle along behind her, like some weird dog. She couldn't hear Ghastly. She couldn't hear anyone.

Now she was on edge. Why was the window and the door locked if it wasn't Ghastly? A thought occurred to her; what if it was the people that Kyle had spoken about this morning? It made sense. She put a careful hand on her sword hilt, scanning around for-

A glowing projectile erupted from the darkness and hit her chest. Tanith jumped with surprise. She didn't feel it hit her thanks to Ghastly's clothes, but the shock made her jump. Adrenaline flooded her veins and she took out her sword, making it glint in the light so that they could see it. She heard a whimper. She took a look at the glowing thing stuck to her chest. She frowned. Wait...was that a...nerf bullet?

A boy, Matthew, leapt out from the shadows, brandishing a plastic gun. He looked scared but determined.

"Put the sword down!" he cried, aiming at Tanith's head.

Frozen with disbelief, Tanith did as she was asked, blinking at the boy curiously. Kid's got balls, she thought. She didn't want to scare him more than she already had. Kyle began to thrash more desperately, shouting at the boy from beneath Tanith's fingers. Matthew picked up Tanith's sword carefully and pointed it at her.

"Let my daddy go." he said, his voice quivering.

"Matthew..." Tanith began, unsure of what to do. Matthew lunged forward and sliced at the air with Tanith's sword. She stepped back, holding up the hand that wasn't preventing Kyle from speaking.

"Okay, okay." she murmured, "My sword is real you know."

Tanith wondered if she could read out some names without the boy impaling her.

"I know." said Matthew, scowling at her. "I'm five, not stupid."

"I apologize." Tanith took a step forward but Matthew brandished her sword again.

"Stay back." he commanded.

Tanith sighed. Ghastly came down the stairs, rubbing his temple. He glanced up and saw the sight in front of him. He froze and looked around.

"Uh..." he looked at Tanith, "Have a missed something?"

"Matthew here has my sword."

"How-"

"Please. Don't ask."

Ghastly raised his eyebrows but turned to Matthew. "Hey, buddy. Can I get that sword-?" he asked. Matthew swung the sword and Ghastly stepped back, his eyes widening in surprise. He looked at Tanith and she shrugged.

"Let my daddy go." he repeated.

"Why don't you let the sword go and we'll talk?" said Tanith, slightly annoyed. Ghastly splayed his hand out in front of him and Matthew turned the sword on him. Ghastly waited for a second, before twisting his hand. The sword flew out of Matthew's grip and clattered to the floor in front of Ghastly,. He picked it up and returned it to Tanith's holster.

"Thanks." she said.

"You're welcome." he said.

Matthew looked at Ghastly with shock, his eyes registering the scars in what looked like fear. Ghastly's face fell a little when he saw Matthew's scared expression, but kept a smile on his face.

"How did you do that?" gasped Matthew.

"Magic." said Ghastly.

"No but how ?"

Ghastly frowned slightly, "Seriously, magic." he said. He clicked his fingers and a flame appeared, sending flickering light across his scars. Kyle slumped against Tanith and she tightened her grip. Matthew looked at Ghastly with mingled awe.

"How did you get your scars?" he asked.

"I was cursed." said Ghastly.

Matthew hesitated. His eyes flickered over to his father who was looking more scared than Matthew himself. He paused. They waited.

"Mummy!" screeched Matthew suddenly, "Help!"

Tanith turned to Ghastly. "Cloaking sphere?"

He shook his head frantically. "I left it upstairs. Damn!"

"We should go-"

"No time." said Ghastly, as Kyle's wife thundered down the stairs. "Read names. Now."

Tanith began to read names as Kyle's wife appeared on the stairs.

"Matthew?" she gasped, her face ashen white. She swallowed at the sight of the intruders in her house. Fear crossed her face. "Who are you?"

"Its okay-"

The woman shook her head as if to clear it. She sprinted to the telephone, stumbling slightly, and cried out as she found it sabotaged. Obviously thinking fast, she ran to the door. Ghastly moved to intercept her. He grabbed her gently and pulled her backwards, kicking and screaming. He clamped a hand around her mouth to smother the noise.

"Sorry." he said.

More footsteps came down the stairs. A girl who looked about three appeared in the hallway. She rubbed her eyes and then saw what was in front of her. "Mummy?" she said.

Matthew went to his sister and took her hand, standing slightly in front of her as if to protect her. Tanith felt a pang for her own brother when he did that, but she soon banished that thought away. The wife was thrashing in Ghastly's arms like she was being electrocuted.

"Mummy?!" cried the girl whose name was Sarah. "I'm scared! What's happening? Why are there nasty people in our house?! Mummy!" she buried her face into Matthew's chest and wept.

Ghastly nodded at Tanith, "Do it..." he said.

She took her hand of Kyle's mouth and he faltered, surprised. She began to read out names while holding his shackles, and tears formed in his eyes.

"Dont..." he begged, "Please. I'll do anything..."

She read on, blocking out the world. I'm sorry.

"Please I'll do anything you ask, just dont..."

Tanith stuttered but read on.

Desperation was leaking into Kyle's voice now, "Please!" he cried, tears falling from his eyes to the carpet. Tanith set her jaw. Has to be done, she repeated to herself. The wife was still struggling against Ghastly but he never let go. Sarah and Matthew were both crying now, confused and terrified. Tanith read another name. Nothing.

"Stop it!" shouted Matthew, his arms around his sister, "You're hurting him! Stop it!"

Another name.

Kyle was sobbing now. He choked as he hyperventilated. He looked at Tanith, his eyes pleading. "You dont have to do this!" he cried, "You dont have to do this! Leave me alone! I'm fine! I'm fine! Leave me alone! Please!"

Matthew whimpered.

"You dont have the right to do this!" screamed Kyle, losing it. "You can't take my life away! It's not fair! It's not fair!"

Tanith didn't hesitate.

"I am a person too! I am a person too!" Kyle screeched.

"Ragnor Omen." said Tanith.

Kyle slumped to the floor, his eyes closed. Sarah and Matthew cried out.

Kyle's wife screamed. Ghastly let her go, a sad expression on his face. He stood by Tanith, who was breathing heavily. He put his arm around her and she leaned into him.

"It's alright." he said.

She shook her head, her face pale.

Kyle's wife threw herself down by Kyle and stroked his hair. Tears were falling from her eyes. She looked at Kyle, and then at her children who were weeping. She swallowed hard and waited. Tanith and Ghastly didn't move.

Ragnor Omen opened his eyes. A curious look was on his face. Kyle's wife whimpered with relief and kissed him, straight on the lips. She looked at him and smiled despite her tears.

Ragnor looked bewildered. "Um, not that I'm objecting or anything..." he said in a different accent to Kyle, "But who are you?"

Kyle's wife gasped and pulled away from him, scrambling away to where her children stood. Sarah had no idea what was going on from the look on her face and Matthew looked confused. He looked at Tanith viciously. Ragnor stood and looked at the family before him, all of them looking at him expectantly. He drew in a shaky breath and ran a hand through his flat hair. It stuck up in several places now. It looked out of character. "Do you know how I got here?" he asked,

Nobody said a word.

There was an awkward pause.

Kyle's wife strided up to Ghastly and Tanith, "What the hell did you just do to my husband?" she said quietly. The venom in her voice made them take a step back. She looked at them like they were monsters.

"Husband..?" murmured Ragnor. He looked at Tanith and Ghastly.

Sarah ran up to Ragnor, not quite understanding, and threw her arms around him, "Daddy!" she said happily. Ragnor stumbled away from her, shock on his face. Sarah was unbalanced by his stumble and she fell over. She began to cry when her Daddy didn't pick her up.

"Sarah..." said Kyle's wife, fighting back her tears. She picked Sarah up. "Matthew..." she said, taking his hand.

"What's going on?" Ragnor said to Tanith and Ghastly as he began to panic. "Why am I with the mortals? What's going on? Tell me!"

Ghastly looked at the family helplessly, and Ragnor understood. He walked forward and placed a hand on Kyle's wife and Matthew's head. There was a soft glow of slight from his palm and they fell asleep on the carpet. He did the same to Sarah, but placed her down. Tanith swallowed as pity clouded her thoughts. It had to be done, she thought as she tried to persuade herself that she had done the right thing. She looked down at the family on the floor, all sleeping soundly. They were peaceful. When Geoffrey got to them, they would lose all memories of Kyle Myers and who he had been. Perhaps that was for the best.

Ragnor Omen turned to them, anger twisting his features. "Explain." he commanded.


	6. Chapter 6: Valkyrie

(Just a little thing before the chapter begins: The person mentioned in this chapter has my name(s) but is not necessarily me. They may have characteristics of myself but I dont see her as "me". I wanted to include myself because who doesn't want to be in the Skulduggery world? If you find this a little...self-centered then I apologize. I'm not trying to big myself up or make myself look better than I am, I just wanted to write myself into the universe. I dont know if the character I'm talking about will reappear, but if you want her to, or even dont want her to, then let me know. Please review or comment and let me know your thoughts c: )

The person they were searching for, Elise Longden, was still in secondary school. She was fifteen and in year eleven. Valkyrie assumed that she had just taken or was in the middle of her exams judging by the time of year. That kinda sucked considering that Elise was about to have her life changed forever. Valkyrie felt sorry for her.

Walking through an actual school was a strange experience. Valkyrie had many memories of school, thanks to Stephanie, but the feeling of consciously being in one was a peculiar one. She had visited one when Kitana and her friends had gone on a rampage, but for most of that time she was invisible, and for the rest she was fighting for her life. She didn't really count that time.

In all honestly, she'd forgotten about what it felt like to walk down crowded hallways filled with judgemental teenagers. People stared at her as she walked, and when she made eye contact they broke away, looking down and flowing flawlessly into conversation with their friends. She was wearing all black, like always, and people eyed her outfit curiously as she walked down the corridor with Skulduggery by her side. She kept her hands in her pockets, staying casual, and returned any looks she got her way.

Skulduggery stuck out like a sore thumb. His extravagant suit and hat combo looked severely out of place in the the chaos of the hallway. Teenage boys snorted and poked fun at him as he went past, but Skulduggery took no notice. The uniform here was plain enough; a white polo shirt with black or grey trousers or a skirt. Most of the girls were wearing tight skirts that were rolled up at the top, and they showed as much skin as possible. Several girls were wearing black trousers that came in various styles of tightness. Some were wearing black skater skirts of varying lengths. A few year sevens had tried to copy this look, but their skater skirts fell past their knees, making them seem even shorter than they already were. Scarily, some of the younger girls were clad in thick make-up and tight skirts. Valkyrie sighed. She had no problem with people wearing whatever the hell they wanted, but to her there was something really wrong with twelve year olds showing off that much skin.

They approached the school office and went inside. A woman who seemed to be in charge of the administration was talking quietly on the phone, and she waved for them to sit down when they approached. They did. She was wearing a small silver badge that said "Miss Flora Dixon, Adminstration". Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail which curled around her neck to rest on her chest. She had brown eyes, looked a little bit overweight, and had an engagement ring on her left hand. The clothes she wore were unimpressive. A crease formed in her brow as she talked and clicked her mouse. Valkyrie looked away.

She placed her hands on her lap and tapped her fingers against her knees, watching them. Valkyrie raised her eyes and they met with an older female teacher's. Valkyrie gave her a curt nod and the teacher frowned, looking to Skulduggery and raising her eyebrows at him. Valkyrie scowled. She hated the way teachers demanded respect. At least she had acknowledged the teacher. Skulduggery tilted his head at the teacher and shrugged. The teacher pursed her lips and moved on.

"See," hissed Valkyrie quietly with a scowl on her face, "This is why I dislike school."

"You just don't like being told what to do." replied Skulduggery with his voice down.

"Neither do you." she said indignantly, keeping her eyes out for anyone passing. "Did you see the look on her face? Like I was beneath her? At least I let her know I knew she was there. What did she want exactly? Me to stand up and thank the universe for her existence?"

Skulduggery sighed. "If I knew this was going to be a problem-" he began half sarcastically.

"It won't be! It isn't!" she muttered at him. His façade rolled its eyes.

Miss Flora Dixon of Administration had just finished her telephone call. Skulduggery and Valkyrie stood up. They went to her and she regarded them with impatience. "Yes?" she said, "Can I help you?"

Skulduggery's facade smiled and his hands went to his pockets.

"My name is Detective Inspector Me. And yes, that is my name. My family were very arrogant and remarkably unimaginative."

Flora blinked in surprise, temporarily stunned, but soon snapped out of it and opened her mouth to say something. Skulduggery cut her off swiftly, "I know," he said, "It comes as quite a shock. You would never believe that I come from a narcissistic family at first glance. I'm just too...dignified."

Valkyrie snorted but turned it into a loud cough. She looked away and cleared her throat, regaining her composure. When Valkyrie looked back at Flora, she looked confused.

"I am hoping to interview a few students." said Skulduggery warmly, "I was wondering if you could arrange this?"

"What are you interviewing them for?" asked Flora, looking slightly suspicious.

"Errrm..." said Skulduggery, thinking. Flora's eyes narrowed.

"Road safety." said Valkyrie suddenly, and Skulduggery shot her a look that said 'seriously?'. She shrugged. They turned back to Flora, who was looking more bewildered than ever.

"Road safety..?" she muttered almost to herself. She shook her head slightly, as if clearing it. "I'm sorry," she said, "Do you have an appointment?"

Skulduggery frowned. "Do I look like I need an appointment?"

"Everybody needs an appointment."

"But I have natural authority."

Flora sighed as if it was some sort of joke. "Look," she began, "I can't let you see any of the children until you have made an appointment and it has been confirmed. You'll probably need a letter of your superior, informing us why you wish to talk to some of the students about...road safety. We can't just let anybody in here you know." she chucked.

Skulduggery laughed woodenly along with her. "Of course not. We're sorry for wasting your time." he said. Without even a goodbye, Skulduggery turned around and walked out. Valkyrie smiled at Flora and hurried after him, having to skip slightly to catch up.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"What was what about?" he said, turning the corner.

"We kind of have to find this person? You know? So we can't just give up when we're told that we need an appointment."

"We're not giving up." said Skulduggery. He paused by a door marked "storage" and checked that the hallway was clear before slipping inside. Valkyrie followed, frowning. Skulduggery pulled out a cloaking sphere from his jacket pocket. Everything clicked.

"Ohh." said Valkyrie, "Was this the plan all along?"

"Yes." he said, "But I thought if we could try to do it normally anyway, just to make sure."

"Right, okay"

Skulduggery twisted the cloaking sphere and suddenly they were invisible. They slipped out of the storage room, trying not to open it too far in case anyone was outside. The walked out and began down the corridor, Valkyrie close by Skulduggery's side.

"So where to?" she asked, her voice slightly hushed out of habit.

"The entire of the girl's year is taking an exam right now, that's where we find her." said Skulduggery in a normal voice.

"Okay."

They walked to the exam room, avoiding the more crowded routes. They slipped past teachers and students alike, and none of them even seemed suspicious. That was to be expected, of course. Valkyrie still wasn't really used to the invisible thing. It was unnerving knowing that people couldn't see or hear them. They came to the exam room. There was a normal looking door and to both sides of it was a long window where students could be seen scribbling away. Most of them were hunched over their papers and writing furiously, but others were leaning back in their chairs, staring at the clock on the wall with smug smirks on their faces. At the front was another large window that faced what could only be described as a forest. Birds fluttered in the trees and their hooting echoed through the glass. It wasn't a bad view for an exam room to be honest. On a whiteboard at the front was the name of the exam and the time it began. Valkyrie checked the exam duration and then realised that they only had ten minutes left. Some of the students finished up and yawned as they lay their heads against the desk.

"What does this person look like?" asked Valkyrie.

"This person's name is Elise Longden." replied Skulduggery, "And we don't know."

"Then how are we supposed-?"

"I was thinking we'd see her given name on her exam paper."

"That's your plan?" Valkyrie hissed. "Really? There are over a hundred students in there and the exam finishes in eight minutes.

"Well, we'll just have to work fast."

"Work...fast?" she said in disbelief. Skulduggery started forwards and slowly opened the door to the exam room. She stuck close by him, careful not to let any part of herself slip out of the dome of invisibility. She had the feeling that the pupils would panic if they saw a hand hovering in the air.

The students were arranged on single tables, in rows. She tiptoed inside, though it was not needed, and Skulduggery began to check the names written on the front of the exam papers. They could only see the names when the papers were closed. Skulduggery went down the aisle, checking the ones on the left. Valkyrie sighed and began checking the ones on the right. Some of them couldn't be read because the papers had not been finished yet. When that happened, they moved on, hoping that the person they were looking for had finished. After a minute or so of this, Valkyrie began to get bored. She wasn't used to this sort of thing and she decided she didn't like it. She was used to action and fun and other cool stuff. Her mind went blank until she realized she wasn't really concentrating. Her eyes were unfocused and she yawned loudly. Skulduggery looked at her and removed his façade after one side began to droop. Amazingly, his skull still seemed to show an exasperated expression.

"Sorry." she said sheepishly, stretching. Valkyrie tried to wake herself up a bit by pinching her arm. It didn't work very well.

Suddenly, a wave of white hot light flashed in front of her eyes and Valkyrie cried out as her eyes stung. Colours burst forth and swirled in her eyes. Her vision was blurry. She couldn't see. She staggered.

"Valkyrie?" said Skulduggery urgently, his hand around her upper arm, steadying her. "Are you alright?"

She swayed on the spot, grabbing Skulduggery for support. Her vision came back and spots danced in her eyes. She gasped. Her sight was back and it seemed sharper than it was before. Everything had crisp, fine edges like it had been cut with a fine knife. Skulduggery lit up in a brilliant red and his glow radiated colour on her skin. She looked at him in curious surprise, remembering the last time this happened. When they were fighting Darquesse, the sorcerers around her lit up like beacons. She hadn't really thought about it since because she had just assumed it was a fluke. She looked at Skulduggery with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I- I can see..." she hesitated, "you're glowing."

"I'm always glowing." said Skulduggery, tilting his head.

She groaned. "No...just...no. I mean all around you is this red light."

"Oh." he said. He let go of her arm and she stumbled slightly. "Can you walk?" he asked.

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes."

"We need to find the girl. Then we can figure this out, okay?"

"Alright." she murmured, staring at the blood red aura pulsing out from him. "This has happened before, you know." she said, checking some more papers."

Skulduggery glanced at her, interested."When?"

"When we were fighting Darquess- Skulduggery!" Valkyrie said in surprise. "It's her!" She pointed at the blonde head a few rows away from them. "That's Elise! I can see her magic!"

A dark blue glow, not unlike the night sky, was surrounding the girl that was still writing on her paper. Her head was bowed and her long blonde hair hid her face from view.

"Are you sure?" he said urgently.

"Yes, I'm sure. She's the only one who has light around her."

Elise raised her head and looked at the clock, biting her lip as she realised the time. Two minutes until the end of the exam. She sighed with relief and rested her head in her hands. They walked over to her and Valkyrie took in her face. She had long hair down to her waist and a side fringe. Her eyes were bright blue and large shadows were underneath her eyes. She rubbed her temple and stretched out her fingers. They clicked loudly and Valkyrie shuddered. She hated that.

Elise looked out of the window and into the forest, her eyes turning glassy. Outside, rain was beginning to fall from the sky and the pattering could be heard on the rooftop. Drops splashed on the window. Valkyrie turned and tried to see what Elise was looking at exactly but nothing of importance was there. She seemed to look out into some faraway place that nobody else could see.

Skulduggery and Valkyrie stood beside her, determined to stick by her until they had the chance to give her back her memories. Coming out of her daydream, Elise sighed and stretched her arms above her head. She glanced around the room absentmindedly, careful not to let her eyes linger on any students so that she wasn't accused of cheating. She glanced to the side of her, where Skulduggery and Valkyrie were standing, and frowned. A crease formed between her eyebrows and she stared at the spot where they were. Elise seemed to look right at them as they stood there, despite their invisibility. She surveyed them with those blue eyes, and Valkyrie didn't dare move in case she saw. It was impossible, of course she couldn't see them. The way Elise looked at the place where they stood made Valkyrie wonder if she was aware of her and Skulduggery's presence. Elise blinked and moved her eyes to Valkyrie's face, and their eyes met. Valkyrie let out a quiet gasp. Elise turned away.

"Did you see that?" whispered Valkyrie, "She looked right at me!"

"Why are you whispering?" he said at normal volume.

"Because if she can see me then she might be able to hear me too."

"She could of been looking through at something behind you."

Valkyrie shook her head. "It was like she knew I was there. Its hard to explain but I know she knew."

"Well, that's... interesting." he said. "There's no way she could see us Valkyrie. Nobody can see through cloaking spheres. She might of just sensed that we were there."

"Yeah" said Valkyrie uncertainly, glancing at Elise.

"Time." said a teacher by the front. He stood and surveyed them all for a second before continuing. "Please leave everything on the desks and exit in silence. Once you leave you will not be allowed back in. Have a nice day."

There was an almighty scraping noise as all of the pupils stood up at the same time. Elise was one of the last to get up, and she stretched again as she rose. Yawning, she made eye contact with a girl as she walked towards the door. She walked beside the other girl until they were outside. Skulduggery and Valkyrie waited for a moment before following.

Elise and her friend were already conversing by the time Skulduggery and Valkyrie got to them. Elise walked with her head down and her hands clasped in front of her. Her eyes rarely wavered from the floor and her shoulders always had a hunch to them. Her blonde hair hung down to her waist and it was slightly messy, as if she had been running her hands through it.

"It wasn't that bad," said the girl, "but the last question was really-"

"Difficult." finished Elise, "Hard. Nearly impossible?" The girl sent her an annoyed look.

Elise twisted her fingers, and smiled slightly. "Sorry, Amy." she said. She had an English accent.

"I just saw it and like gave up right then. I just knew it wasn't happening." said Amy. "I can't wait until we get into the real world and we have calculators."

"Yeah..." said Elise. "I just hope I'm going to be okay."

"Yeah, well I'm sure I'll be fine." said Amy. "But I always worry. Hey, what's your target grade again?"

"Erm, an A o think. Probably leaning more towards a B if I'm honest."

"Well my target grade is an A. Probably a high one. I'm better than some people at maths."

Elise looked uncomfortable and what might of been a slight blush crept up onto her cheeks. Valkyrie thought that comment had sounded like it was directed at Elise.

"Ah, well." said Elise, a knowing smile creeping onto her face,"Some people are better than you at other things."

"Like what?"

Elise smiled again and looked off into the distance. She kept the answer to herself and shrugged.

"You are very strange." said Amy.

Elise looked at her, "I know." she said evenly. "Are you just getting that now?"

"Surprisingly not, no." Amy muttered sarcastically.

Silence followed until they reached the school gates.

Elise sighed. "I'm so happy we get the rest of the day off."

"I know right? It's great. And tomorrow is Friday, which is great."

"Yeah," she said, "I seriously cannot wait to go home, I'm exhausted."

"Me too." said Amy. "Any plans for the weekend?"

"Hmm, I may marathon Game Of Thrones..." said Elise with a grin.

"Of course you will." groaned Amy. "Fancy coming out on Saturday night?"

"Nah. I mean no. No, thank you."

"Why not?"

"Erm, I'm tired...I have homework and..." Elise hesitated.

"And?" prompted Amy.

"Well, you know...Doctor Who is on Saturday night." Elise grinned sheepishly and Amy rolled her eyes.

"You are so pathetic." she said. She seemed to spot something in the car park. "Anyway, I'll see you on Monday. Bye!" she walked off towards a car sitting the the car park. Elise stared after her with her hands in her pockets before beginning to walk.

"You are so pathetic." she muttered to herself in an imitation of Amy. She contained to murmur underneath her breath but the rest was inaudible.

She adjusted the bag on her back and walked down the pathway. Her head was bowed because of he slight rain and her arms were wrapped tightly around herself. She was walking quite quickly but they did not need to hurry to keep up. Her shoulders were hunched and tense, and she looked behind her occaissonally. She looked nervous.

She approcahed her house just as the rain cleared away. She reached the gate and kicked it open with a loud bang, and shouted "I'm home!"

They followed her and slipped through the gate before it had time to close. They waited a moment before going into her house.

"Hey , sweetheart." said a woman from the couch sipping a cup of tea. She had a battered book on her lap and she smiled warmly at Elise.

"Hey Mum." she said, smiling softly.

"How was your day?" asked her Mum.

"Meh." said Elise.

"Good?"

"Of course not," she joked, "It's school."

Elise's Mum smiled slightly and went back to her book.

Elise turned and went into the kitchen. She pulled off her bag and jacket and tossed them into the cupboard, and soon her shoes followed with two bangs. She went to the fridge and pulled out a chocolate bar.

"Is this mine?" she asked as she walking into the living room.

"Yeah." said her mum, not looking up from her books.

She ripped open the bar and took a large bite. "Aw, thank you." she said, slightly muffled.

"Don't worry about it." said her Mum.

"We should go." said Skulduggery as Elise plodded up the stairs. "We probably won't get a chance to talk to her today."

Valkyrie frowned, "So we followed her for nothing?"

"Not for nothing. We now know where she lives don't we?"

"Well, yes. Are we just going to come back tomorrow?"

"I think we'll have to make a formal appointment with her in the school."

"Ooh fun." Muttered Valkyrie.

"You're really not enjoying this are you?"

"No. It's boring. I'm used to action and adventure."

"This is adventurous."

"Nothing's happening."

"You never know what tomorrow may bring, Valkyrie."

"Hm." she said.

They had decided to spend the night in the rental car. Unlike the Bentley, it was made for getting to places and it wasn't very comfy. Valkyrie had tried to sleep in it, but it was very uncomfortable and the seat wouldn't adjust properly. When she tried to change it, it made loud squeaks. When she moved it up or down it moved too far, so it was always too high or too low. It was extremely frustrating, but Valkyrie was determined to get it right.

"Would you stop fiddling with your chair?" sighed Skulduggery after a particularly loud squeak.

"I can't help it." said Valkyrie irritably, "It refuses to adjust properly."

"Just leave it then."

"I can't. It's not comfortable." she said miserably.

"You're welcome to sleep in the boot."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically, "But I think I'll pass." She leant backwards in the stupid chair and folded her arms.

"Are you sulking?" asked Skulduggery, amusement in his voice.

"Yes."

"Are you sulking at me or the chair?"

She considered, "Both." she said.

In the morning they drove to a spot where Elise would be visible when she walked past. Skulduggery had rung the school the night before and they accepted their request to see her. He had told them that she had won a prize and amazingly, they believed it.

Skulduggery had his old disguise on today. The scarf, the sunglasses, the wig, the hat.

Elise walked past, wearing tight black trousers and a large hoodie. The trousers were not as tight as Valkyrie's. She walked quickly and the wind blew her long hair into her face.

"Let's go." said Skulduggery,getting out. Valkyrie got out.

Skulduggery began walking and Valkyrie looked at him, confused. "Are we not using the cloaking sphere?"

"No point." He said. "She's going to see us anyway."

"Okay."

The followed her down the road. They didn't speak and their footsteps did not make much noise against the pavement. Despite that, Elise turned around and locked eyes with Valkyrie. For a moment her footsteps faltered and she swallowed, but then she began walking again. Her pace was hurried and her shoulders were tense.

"That's weird." muttered Valkyrie.

"It is." Skulduggery muttered back.

They reached the school and Elise disappeared smoothly into the crowd of teenagers. They didn't follow her. They had an appointment after all.

"Here." said Skulduggery, passing Valkyrie the cloaking sphere.

"Er, thanks."

"Activate it."

"Why?"

"She knows you. She doesn't know me. She won't recognise me because she sees too many people each day to remember the sound of their voices."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite. She'll remember you because of road safety."

Valkyrie activated the sphere.

They went to the office and found Flora tapping away at her keyboard. Because of the failed attempt with the façade the previous day, Skulduggery had decided that it woukd be best to start looked up when she heard their footsteps.

"Oh my." she murmured as she saw Skulduggery's disguise.

"Sorry." said Skulduggery casually. "I was badly burned as a child and some people find it repulsive."

"No!" she said nervously, "I wasn't-"

"Think nothing of it." he said.

His shoulders were hunched slightly as if to change his height and he put an accent on his voice just in case.

"Do you...erm...have an appointment?"

"Yes." he said brightly.

"Name?" asked Flora.

"Mr Myself."

"Erm..."

"Strange name I know."

"You're on here." announced Flora, a finger on her screen. "With Elise, is that correct?"

"It is."

"Great. She's in there waiting for you." Flora jabbed a finger to the door opposite the office. She began to type on her keyboard again.

Valkyrie frowned, there was something about the way Flora said there.

"Something wrong?"

Flora's fingers halted. "Not at all. It's just..."

"Just?" prompted Skulduggery.

"Well," Flora lowered her voice, "I'm not really supposed to say this but she's a bit of a weird one."

"Elise?"

"Yes. She's always in her own world, looking into space. Sometimes she looks at things that aren't there...just staring at nothing. She's a daydreamer, and that sometimes effects her work."

"Really?" said Skulduggery with mild interest.

"I just wanted to say. Incase you...erm...don't get a straight answer."

"Of course."

Skulduggery turned around and walked towards the door. He held it open wide and Valkyrie darted in after him. Before anyone could notice, she deactivated the cloaking sphere and went to the corner of the room.

The room was brightly lit and had two couches which had a table in between. There were framed pictures on the walls that had so called inspirational quotes on them. Skulduggery shut the door behind him.

Elise was sat on a couch, leaning forward with her hands rested on the table. Her bag was beside her. Her blonde hair shone in the light and the dark circles around her eyes were not so prominent. She smiled softly as they sat down.

"How did I know it'd be you guys?" she said. Her voice was loud in the small space and her posture radiated confidence. This surprised Valkyrie; she didn't look like the sort of person who would be comfortable in this situation.

"Hello." said Skulduggery warmly. "My name is Detective Inspector Me and my partner is Detective Inspector Her."

"Hello." said Elise, looking at them both.

There was a pause.

"We're here-" began Skulduggery.

"Are you sure you two are Detective Inspectors?" she said, a small smile on her lips.

"We're sure." said Valkyrie.

"Positive?"

"Yes."

"Alright then." she said. "Can I see your badges?"

There was an awkward silence and Valkyrie shifted nervously.

"I see..." said Elise slowly. "Who are you really?"

"Um..." murmured Valkyrie, looking at Skulduggery.

He hesitated and stared at Elise through his sunglasses. He went to the door and bolted it.

"That's not intimidating at all". she said.

"My name is Skulduggery Pleasant and this is my partner Valkyrie Cain."

"And I thought my name was weird." muttered Elise as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Would you say you are an escapist, Elise?" asked Skulduggery. Valkyrie frowned, what did that have to do with anything?

"As in..?"

"As in you try to avoid reality by submerging yourself in fantasy scenarios, not as in you escape from things."

Elise laughed hollowly, "Yeah I'd say so."

"Flora seems to think so too."

"She told you that? That's not very nice."

"She seems to think that you're very distant and dreamy."

"I am when I'm bored, and she bores me."

"Are you bored now?" asked Valkyrie.

Elise looked at her and smiled again. "No, I'm curious."

"Why are you curious?"

"Because two people who followed me to school are sat in a room with me. One of you isn't showing one inch of skin and is wearing an expensive suit, and the other is wearing trousers tighter than mine and an amount of black that would not be unsuitable for Batman. They pretended to be Detective Inspectors and are now talking to me about escapism. That's why I'm curious."

Valkyrie smiled.

"So, who are you?"

"I'm Skulduggery Pleasant and this is Valkyrie C-"

"No, I mean who are you? Why are you here really?"

"It's hard to explain." said Skulduggery.

"I can listen when I want to." said Elise.

"I'm sure you can, but it's best if we show you." said Skulduggery.

"Go ahead."

"Valkyrie? Would you demonstrate?"

Valkyrie held out her hand and Elise leaned in, her eyes wide and curious. She made her magic flow to her hand and began to gently release it. It began to glow and she made it brighter. Flashes of miniscule lighting danced on her palm. Elise swallowed, slightly pale but looking pleased.

"Wow." she said softly as the glow lit up her face. Valkyrie expected more of a freak out and she closed her hand.

"It's not a trick." she said.

"I hope not. I'm trying not to get too excited just incase I'm hallucinating."

"You're not hallucinating." said Skulduggery. He took of his disguise and the bright lights made his skull gleam.

"That's... pretty cool. Are you dead?"

"Yes."

"Right. Just checking."

"Are you not alarmed?" he asked.

"More excited. I mean I'm freaked out, but I've wanted something like this to happen my entire life." There was a pause and she winced. "That sounds pathetic."

"It doesn't." said Valkyrie sharply. "I was the same, trust me."

Elise smiled. "I guess we're all freaks, huh?" she said.

"What do you mean?" said Skulduggery.

"I mean...because of the things that have been happening to me. Isn't that why you're here?"

"What things?" he questioned.

"Well...like this." she said. Skulduggery and Valkyrie watched her and for a moment nothing happened but then Elise's startlingly blue eyes changed to a lime green. They changed to red then purple then black then yellow and then the iris disappeared all together.

"What else can you do?" asked Valkyrie.

"At the moment the only things I can do without really focusing is my eyes. But when I'm concentrating I can change my hair colour and skin colour.

"Your powers are returning?" said Skulduggery, not able to hide his surprise.

"Returning? This has never happened to me before." Elise's eyes returned to normal.

"About that..." muttered Valkyrie under her breath.

"This is what we have been sent to tell you." said Skulduggery softly.

"What?" said Elise urgently, a hint of panic in her voice.

"You're not a freak," said Skulduggery, "You're a sorcerer. Magic exists and it is everywhere. Mortals- that is non-sorcerers- do not know it exists. We hide it from them, for their own safety."

"But how do I not know this?"

"From what we know, you were abducted years ago for an army of sorcerers. They trained you in combat and magic before sending you home with a different identity. They created a life for you and when you were needed they would tell you your name so you could fight for them."

Elise was very pale. "What do you mean by tell me my name?"

"You have three names as a sorcerer." Said Valkyrie. "Your given name, your taken name, and your true name. Your given name is the one given to you by someone else, whether it be a family member or otherwise. Your given name can be used to control you and to prevent this from happening you must choose a name to protect it. My given name was Stephanie Edgley. My taken name is Valkyrie Cain. I chose it and it is a part of me."

"What about your true name?"

Valkyrie tensed. "Um, your true name gives you all of your power and you rarely find out what it is. If you do, then you will be unimaginably powerful. If someone finds out your true name then they will have totally control over you. You can seal a true name so this doesn't happen. My true name is Darquesse."

"Are you unimaginably powerful then?"

"No. My name was too powerful for me so it developed a consciousness and tried to destroy the world."

"Oh." Elise said quietly.

"You have a taken name already." said Skulduggery. You chose it before your memory was wiped. If you hear it, you will remember everything and turn back into who you were."

"And I suppose you know my taken name?"

"We have some options-"

There was a soft knock on the door.

"We're busy!" called Skulduggery.

The knocking continued. "We're in the middle of discussing a private matter. Please leave." he said again.

The knocking got louder and more insistent. Skulduggery stood and headed to the door, obviously planning to scold the person outside. He activated his facade.

There were another three loud knocks and then a noise that sounded like a shove.

"Just bloody kick it down!" hissed a female voice.

Before anyone in the room could react, there was a loud bang and the door flew off its hinges and sent Skulduggery flying.

There were three people standing in the doorway. The one at the front was a petite woman wearing red leather trousers and a black top. She had short blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and slanted brown eyes that glinted. Next to her was a man with messy black hair and a black knuckleduster. Shadows curled around it and he had a sickly smile on her face. On the woman's other side was another woman who had a thin face with high cheekbones. Her head was shaved and tattoos covered the place where her hair would of been. She had several piercings on her face.

"My name is Feral." said the woman with the blonde hair. "Just Feral if you dont mind." Her eyes locked with Elise's and she smirked. Feral pulled out a small bloody knife and twirled it in her hand. "You're coming with us."

Skulduggery stood and fire flared in his hands. "She is not."

"C'mon Elise." purred Feral, "I thought you'd want to know about your past."

"Dont listen to her."said Valkyrie.

"Well, duh." said Elise, giving Valkyrie a look.

"Do you really want to fight us? In the middle of this school? I mean aren't you supposed to have that thing where mortals dont know about magic? What will happen if we all start scrapping here?" said Feral

"We'll figure something out." said Skulduggery. He raised his hands and the fire disappeared. He pushed forwards and a wall of air slammed into the trio and sent them flying back.

"Out." he said and they all followed him.

It was unusually quiet in the reception area and there were no people to be seen. Feral and her companions wrre groaning as they picked themsekves out of the wall. Elise had walked over to the reception desk where Flora sat and she had frozen where she stood. Her eyes were wide and she looked like she was going to pass out. Valkyrie walked over, worry pooling in her stomach, and then she saw what Elise was looking at.

Flora was flopping over her desk chair, covered in blood. Her throat had been viciously sliced and you could see the white bone of her spine. Blood was on her computer screen. Valkyrie went cold.

"Like my work, do you?" teased Feral as she stood up. "She annoyed me. Really. Didn't stop saying that I needed an appointment. Do I look like the sort of person who'd give a damn about appointments?"

Elise turned. Shock was still on her face and she could not seem to come up with words. Valkyrie was also stunned. They were in a school.

"Valkyrie." said Skulduggery softly so only she could hear. "Take Elise and run. Dont argue. Take these." He passed her the list of names. "Try to find out her name. Valkyrie?"

"Yes."

"When I say run..."

Skulduggery lifted his hands and shot streams of flame at Feral. "Run!" he yelled.

Valkyrie grabbed Elise's arm and dragged her away from the scene. For a moment she was shocked but she soon began to sprint beside Valkyrie. They ran down the corridor, their shoes squeaking loudly against the floor.

"Get after them!" screeched Feral as she dived out of the way of the flame.

Her two companions did as they were told, but luckily Valkyrie and Elise had a good headstart.

Valkyrie fumbled with the piece of paper and began to read names when she could. None of them had an effect. They turned a sharp corner and Elise skidded but managed to catch herself before she fell over.

"Now would not be a good time to fall over!" Valkyrie said.

"We need to get out of the school!" said Elise. "The bell will be going in a few minutes and something tells me that they won't have anything against killing people who are in their way."

"Lead the way." gasped Valkyrie as she ran.

"This way!" cried Elise. She grabbed Valkyrie's arm and pulled her to the right down a corridor that she would of missed if she was on her own. Elise led the way past many classrooms, darting around corners with ease. The man and woman were falling behind. They ran up a staircase and Valkyrie stumbled, but Elise yanked her back up onto her feet. They were in a single corridor now and there were no doors on either side. Ahead was a door with a window and Valkyrie could see the balcony.

"Is there a way down?" she said, fighting the stitch in her side,

"Yes." she said. "Just follow me, okay?"

"Gotcha."

They burst through the doors and onto the balcony. Elise ran to the right of the balcony and vaulted over the railing. Valkyrie let out a cry of surprise and hesitated. She peered over the side and saw Elise standing on a large storage box. She vaulted over and landed beside her.

"Jump." said Elise as she leapt off the box. Valkyrie followed her. She landed on the grass and rolled. She brushed herself off and look at Elise, who smiled and turned to run-

A heavy weight crashed into Valkyrie from above and sent her slamming into the ground. The air rushed from her lungs and she thrashed to get the weight off her, but it was too heavy. She was winded and could barely breathe. A man was pinning her down to the ground and he had a weird smile on his face. His hands held down her wrists and no matter how hrd she tried, she could not break his grip. She tried to twist her hips and throw him off, but he just laughed.

"Got you." he said.

Valkyrie heard a cry to the left of her and she twisted her head. The bald woman with the piercings was pinning Elise down and she was writhing in her grip.

Valkyrie poured her magic into her hands and sent a beam of white light towards the man's face. The man twisted his head and avoided it, but he looked angry. Valkyrie concentrated and allowed her magic to flow around her body. She could feel it bubbling and boiling beneath her skin. With great effort, she pushed the heat up onto all of her flesh, and the man cried out as his hands burned. Valkyrie tried to push him off, but his weight still kept her down. The man raised his fist with the black knuckleduster as if he was going to strike her but he didn't. Shadows flowed from it and settled over Valkyrie's body like a blanket, holding her down. She knew she was trapped now.

Across from her, Elise was still struggling valiantly with the woman holding her down. She yelled and yelled as she tried to kick, punch, and scratch her captor. She wasn't strong enough and the woman only laughed.

Valkyrie had a sudden realisation that she still had the list of names clutched in her fist. Acting as if she was giving up, she allowed her head to fall sideways so she could read them. She scanned the ones that she had already read and called out two before they realised what she was doing.

"Hey!" yelled the woman, distracted. "Stop he-"

Elise took advantage of the woman being distracted by placing a hand on the woman's chin. The woman stared for a moment, shocked. Elise moved her hand and Valkyrie saw it close around one of the woman's piercings by her mouth. She hesitated for a second before ripping it out.

The woman screamed and fell off Elise. She rolled on the ground clutching her ripped mouth as if holding it together would make it feel better. Blood dripped down Elise's face and she winced at the woman on the ground. She stood and tossed the piercing aside. The man on top of Valkyrie froze with shock, and Valkyrie took those seconds to shout out a name;

"Lex Avalon!" she cried.

Elise, or Lex, straightened up and tilted her head. She brushed herself off and smoothed her school clothes.

"Well." she said, "This is weird."

She ran to the man and hit him across the jaw. It was a good punch that landed almost perfectly, and the man fell sideways onto the grass with a gasp. He got up and ran at Lex, anger clouding his eyes. She ducked under one of his punches and threw a punch of her own. The man swayed but soon regained his balance. He shadow-walked behind Lex and grabbed her from behind, putting on a triangle choke. She tried to cry out with surprise but it came out as a quiet gasp. Valkyrie still had a wall of shadow on her so she couldn't help. She could only watch.

Lex squirmed in his grip and tried to kick him in the groin. He snarled. Lex's face was red and she seemed to be panicking. She gritted her teeth and, amazingly, long clawlike nails grew from her finger tips. She dug them into his thigh and dragged upwards. The man screamed and released Lex. He fell to the ground and the shadows above Valkyrie disappeared. Lex sucked in a deep breath.

The woman had recovered somewhat during the fight and now stood, her lip still bleeding.

Valkyrie stood and gathered her magic around her fist. She punched her in the jaw and the force from her magic sent her flying across the grass. She turned to Lex, her nails back to normal.

"What are you?" asked Valkyrie.

"I-" began Lex, but she was interrupted by Feral flying through a wall.

Skulduggery floated after her.

"Oh, hello." he said, straightening his hat. "I'm glad I didn't have to save you two."

"Turns out we didn't need your help." muttered Valkyrie.

Feral stood and looked at her friends and the blood on their clothes. She sighed and dusted herself off. She held her arm as if it was hurt.

"Guess we dont win this one guys." she said, pulling up the woman. The man linped over to her. "We'll find you, Elise." she said simply.

"It's Lex now, actually." said Lex.

"Of course." said Feral. "Pleasure fighting with you." she said. She brought out a cloaking sphere and twisted it. They disappeared.

"Damn." murmured Skulduggery.

"What?" asked Valkyrie

"That was my cloaking sphere."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. We lost another one. To a gang of killers. Grand Mage Sorrows will not be happy." he turned to Lex. "So you're you now?"

"Yes. I mean, I think so. I can remember everything, including my time as Elise. But I dont feel like a different person. I'm still me."

"What do you mean?"

"I still love my family. I still love the same food. I still love Harry Potter and Marvel and Lord Of The Rings and Game Of Thrones and Sherlock and Doctor Who and-"

"Good God." said Valkyrie, "Let's not introduce her to Gracious."

"Who's Gracious?"

"It doesn't matter, you will never meet him."

"Right." said Lex uncertainly.

"You say you remember everything?" asked Skulduggery.

"Pretty much, yes."

"In that case, the Grand Mage may have some questions for you."

"Who's the Grand Mage?"

"Currently? It's China Sorrows."

"You'll love her." said Valkyrie, smiling. "You will literally love her."

Please review and point out any mistakes! :) Let me know what you think about Lex.


	7. Chapter 7: Tanith

She sat on the ceiling with her eyes closed, allowing her hair to fall out of her own personal gravitational field and hang out straight towards the ground. Her arms were resting on her sword which was on her knees. She let herself relax a little, trying to fight the annoying urges to get up and do something. She didn't like waiting, especially not for The Grand Mage. She always thought that China didn't really like her, so Tanith had a reason to think that she was doing it just to frustrate her. That was the only thing that kept her sitting happily on the ceiling with her eyes closed. It was a matter of pride.

She sighed to herself and opened her eyes. Perhaps once she might have had a wave of vertigo at the sight, but not now. The ceiling she was sat on was high and people did not see her there. People walked beneath her, and it was a strange sensation because it was them that looked upside down to her. She could not feel the pull of the earth's gravity, she could only feel her own, and in a way it was a very peculiar sensation. Her hair seemed to float above her, rather than hang down. She could feel no blood rushing to her head. It just felt natural.

She sat there for a few more minutes until a face looked up at her. Tipstaff looked slightly nervous as he stood right beneath her. She gave him a smile.

"Miss Low, The Grand Mage will see you now." he said.

"Oh goodie." said Tanith, standing. Tipstaff took a step back, started. She grinned down at him. Her long blonde hair was about a metre from the top of his head. Holding her sword still, she flipped off the ceiling, her gravity changing, and landed softly just in front of Tipstaff. He made a little noise of surprise as her feet skimmed past his nose. She straightened up, smiled, and walked towards China's room of mirrors.

Tipstaff half ran to overtake her. He had a thing for leading people places, even of they already knew where they were going. She let him. Just to let him feel good.

They reached the room of mirrors, and Tipstaff held the door open for her. She thanked him and he blushed. Tanith resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was greeted by her reflection displayed in various angles all over the room. She had almost forgotten how good her legs looked in her new clothes. They were comfortablebbut still managed to look great, which was magical in itself. They were also pretty much impenetrable, which was a bonus.

She saw her friends reflections before she actually saw them. Skulduggery, Ghastly, and Valkyrie were all standing there, along with a tall girl with bright blue eyes and blonde hair. Valkyrie caught her eye in a mirror and waved. Tanith waved back. Ghastly smiled slightly and Tanith grinned. China was sat on her throne and she did not acknowledge Tanith's entrance. Tanith wasn't surprised.

"Hey." she said, slipping her slightly cold hands into her warm pockets.

"Hey." said Ghastly and Valkyrie.

"Tanith." said China and Skulduggery in greeting. The girl said nothing but smiled timidly. Tanith looked at her curiously.

"Oh," said Valkyrie, as if remembering, "Tanith, this is..." she paused and turned to the girl, "What do you want to be called again?"

"Lex or Elise." said the girl to Tanith, "I respond to both. Hi, by the way."

"Hi." said Tanith, smiling at her.

"I like your waistcoat." said Lex, also smiling.

"Thank you." said Ghastly.

Lex frowned, confused. "Er..."

"I made Tanith's." explained Ghastly.

"Oh- oh right, sorry." said Lex. Ghastly shrugged as if to say ',dont worry abou it'.

"Elise...er Lex...or whatever, this is Tanith Low." said Valkyrie.

"Nice to meet you." said Tanith, shaking her hand. Lex seemed surprised that Tanith did that, so she panicked and fumbled for a second before grasping it.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm glad I'm not the only English person here." said Lex easily.

Tanith laughed, "You'll get used to it."

Lex smiled.

China cleared her throat and stood. She was wearing a delicate white blouse with a navy skirt. Her hair was plaited plainly down her back.

"Sorry to interupt." said China, catching Lex's gaze and holding it. Lex only just seemed to notice China was there. Lex smiled nervously and clasped her hands in front of her. China stared at her for a long moment, her ice blue eyes hiding any emotions. China's eyes narrowed slightly and Lex swallowed. Then suddenly she broke out into a beautiful smile. Valkyrie's eyebrows shot up and even Tanith was surprised. Lex's eyes widened and she took a step backwards. China's smile disappeared as suddenly as it came and she watched Lex's reaction.

"China, please control yourself." said Skulduggery.

"I was simply testing her resilience." she said, "Most people swoon when I do that. And it's Grand Mage Sorrows, Skulduggery, don't set a bad example to our new friend." China walked to stand near them all. "Do you have anything to say?" said China to Lex.

"Err...sorry for not swooning?" she said, confused.

China exhaled, "About yourself, your story, etcetera etcetera..."

"I was told that you would be asking the questions, Chin- I mean Grand Mage Sorrows."

China sighed and glared at Skulduggery. "Its already started. I hope you're proud."

Valkyrie and Tanith caught each others eye and grinned.

"But fine, I will ask the questions." continued China, "What is your name?"

"Which one?" asked Lex.

"Both. All."

"Elise Longden is the only given name I know but Lex Avalon is my taken name."

"Do you remember taking a name?" asked Ghastly.

"Not really," said Elise quietly, "Some things are still fuzzy. Sorry."

"I see." said Ghastly, "No need to apologize."

"Who has been taking care of you?"

"My family."

"They can't be your real family." said China cooly. Valkyrie glared at China as if to scold her but of course China pretended not to notice. Tanith swallowed. Ghastly gave Tanith a look of discomfort and Skulduggery tilted his head. Lex's eyes narrowed, the innocent look on her face disappearing as it was replaced by a cold one.

"Family isn't blood." Lex shot back.

China did not reply, and turned away. Her plait whirled as she spun on her heel. "What are your powers?" she questioned, "I have heard stories but I was wondering how...er, reliable they are."

"Excuse me." said Valkyrie, "I told you those stories."

"My point exactly." said China smoothly. Valkyrie glowered at her.

"I've come to think of it as shapeshifting." said Lex, "Knowledge of my powers is coming back very quickly."

"Could you give a demonstration?" asked China.

Lex closed her eyes in reply and clenched her fists at her sides. Before all of their eyes, Lex began to shrink until she was a foot shorter than what she was before. Her long golden blonde hair retreated into her skull and as it travelled it became copper red and curly. A soft spray of freckles appeared across her cheeks and when she opened her eyes they were lime green. Her face was still the same, but you could only tell if you really looked. Tanith whistled.

"That's...different to what I heard." said China.

"Well, I'm jealous." said Ghastly, raising his eyebrows. Tanith gave him a fierce look and he smiled.

"I can do other things too." Her hair suddenly shot back out of her head and turned back to blonde. Her eyes, height, and face returned back to what it originally was. There was a peculiar noise and Tanith looked down at Lex's hands to see that long and harderned nails were growing there. "Is that more like the story?" she said.

"Yes." said China. Lex's nails retracted. The was a brief moment of silence.

"Did you know Erskine Ravel?" said Skulduggery.

"I-" began Lex, but then she paused and frowned. A look of discomfort flickered across her face and her eyes smaller shut. "I...don't know. It sounds familiar but...it's like something is shielding it." Lex's fists clenched, her nails digging into her palms. She swayed and cried out. Ghastly managed to steady her.

"Ouch." said Lex, rubbing her temples.

"Probably best not to try and force your way through." said Skulduggery casually.

"You could of told me that before I tried it." said Lex, frowning.

"Where's the fun in that?" murmured Skulduggery. "We'll take you to see a sensitive, dont worry."

"You will?" said China, "I dont believe I gave you my permission."

Skulduggery looked at China. Valkyrie looked confused, "But you want us to go, right?" said Valkyrie.

"Yes." said China, "But I'm trying to display my authority in front of Lex."

"Oh." said Valkyrie.

"Um," said Lex, nervously, "What's a sensitive?"

"They have visions and can see possible futures. They can also help people forget things, or in your case, remember Pharos is one of the best, and she may be able to get past the block in your mind." said Skulduggery.

"Right. Okay."

"Its probably best if we take Ragnor Omen." said Ghastly. "We being Tanith and myself."

China's lips pursed slightly as her eyes travelled between Ghastly and Tanith. Tanith refused to blush or act sheepish and stared at the Grand Mage. "Very well." said China at last. "He does know you two already."

"Well that's settled then." said Tanith.

"Actually, not quite." said Skulduggery, stepping forwards. "We need more people to look for these sorcerers."

"I have given you unlimited acess to the Cleavers, Skulduggery, what else would you ask of me?"

"Cleavers can't deal with people." said Skulduggery. "They have no sympathy and cannot read out the taken names of the people we are searching for."

"That is true." said China slowly, "But we cannot have many people knowing about this. You told me about the little group going around searching for the sorcerers, and god knows how they know. The less people that know, the better."

"What about people we can trust? Dexter and Saracen?" asked Valkyrie.

"Well," said China, "from what I've heard they are...otherwise occupied."

"Please." said Valkyrie, rolling her eyes, "You could easily convince them."

"Threaten to have them flogged." suggested Tanith with a joking grin.

"At least I'd see Dexter without his shirt on..." muttered Valkyrie from beside Tanith. Tanith stifled her giggles and Valkyrie began to cough loudly. The others looked at them strangely; none of them had heard.

"We could bring in Gracious and Donegan." said Ghastly. " And Fletcher. "

"No." said Valkyrie hastily. Everyone stared. "Me and Skulduggery said that Lex...or Elise would never meet Gracious."

"Why?" asked Lex.

"Because you're both huge nerds and would spend the entire time geeking out and would get nothing done." said Valkyrie.

"Thanks..." muttered Lex.

"I'm right though, aren't I?" said Valkyrie, smiling.

Lex was quiet for a moment. "That's not the point." she said finally. She gave Valkyrie a sheepish smile.

"I'm sure the Monster Hunters and Fletcher would help." said Skulduggery, "It may be the best option."

China nodded slightly. "Alright. I'll get in contact with them soon. Will Cassandra be willing to help?"

"She will." said Skulduggery.

"Good. I hope to see you soon then. Excuse me, I believe I have some calls to make." China gestured to Tipstaff and he nearly fell over himself as he stumbled to follow her. China swept out of her room of mirrors and the last thing they saw of her was a flick of her navy skirt as she went around the door.

They decided to travel in two vehicles. Ghastly, Skulduggery, Ragnor, and Lex were all to travel in the Bentley, while Valkyrie was to accompany Tanith on her motorbike. Valkyrie acted as of it was no big deal, but Tanith could tell from her face that she was more excited than she was letting on. Tanith tossed her a spare helmet and Valkyrie caught it, trying to suppress her grin. Tanith pulled on her own helmet after pushing her hair back and looked at Valkyrie. With her fully black outfit and black helmet, she looked like she was meant to ride a motorcycle. Skulduggery would probably never let her own one though. Besides, she had her Oompa Lumpa now. And despite its strange appearance, Valkyrie loved it. She was adorable.

Tanith climbed onto her motorbike and settled into her most comfortable position. She adjusted her sword so it wasn't in the way. The leather of the seat was starting to shape to her behind, which made riding it all the more comfortable. Tanith watched Skulduggery give clear instructions on what not to do in his precious Bentley. Lex took him reasonably seriously, which surprised Tanith, but Ragnor just stared until Skulduggery had finished. Lex and Ragnor carefully stepped into the back seats while Skulduggery watched, and when they were safely inside Skulduggery climbed into the drivers seat with practiced grace. Ghastly got into the passengers seat and gave Tanith a smile before closing the door. Even though she knew that he couldn't see her face, Tanith smiled back anyway.

Valkyrie climbed onto the back of Tanith's motorcycle and placed her hands either side of her waist.

"How's things between you two?" asked Valkyrie, a smile present in her tone.

"Er..." murmured Tanith. Was it really that obvious? "We're...good."

"Just good?" said Valkyrie mischievously.

No, thought Tanith, much better than good. "Yes." she said out loud.

"Have you kissed him?" teased Val, not being serious.

Tanith was silent until she thought of an adequate reply. "Shut up." she said.

"That's a yes then." said Val, giggling like a little girl. The Bentley's engine started, and Tanith happily started her motorbikes. The roar and the smell of it made her fingertips tingle with anticipation.

"How was that?" continued Valkyrie as she tried to hide her amusement. Val shifted in her seat, her hands still on Tanith's waist. The Bentley began to move.

"Come on, give me the details." pressed Valkyrie.

"Val, shut up." said Tanith, only aware of how pathetic she sounded after she had said it. Tanith felt her cheeks colouring.

"I won't stop until you tell me-eeeeeee!"

Tanith had taken the opportunity to send her motorbike zooming forwards. Val had cried out in surprise and had thrown her hands around Tanith's waist in surprise. The wind began to whistle in her ears as they caught up with the Bentley.

"You'll tell me eventually!" shouted Val over the engine's howl.

"I'm sorry!" yelled Tanith, "I cannot seem to hear you over the sound of my motorbike!"

Val playfully punched Tanith's shoulder and she grinned. She bent down low and pressed herself down to the motorcycle and increased their speed. Valkyrie's laugh was lost behind them as they passed the Bentley. Tanith slowed down a little so Valkyrie could give Skulduggery and Ghastly a wave. Skulduggery looked at them, and Tanith had never seen a skull look so patronizing.

Tanith poured on the speed again and Valkyrie buried her head between Tanith's shoulder blades. Tanith had only been to Cassandra's once, but her brain had miraculously remembered the way. It was a long country road that had a lot of nice turns in it. That was probably why Tanith remembered it.

They went around bend after bend, Valkyrie stiffening slightly each time they leaned. Tanith slowed a little so Val could hear her voice.

"Listen," she said, "Just relax. You freezing at every corner makes it harder to turn."

"Sorry," replied Valkyrie, "It feels like we're going to fall over."

"We won't." assured Tanith.

"I know." said Val.

Again they started and Val began to get more and more relaxed as the journey continued. Tanith could never ride with Val everyday. It wasn't that Tanith didn't enjoy her company, but the more times they rode together, the more likely it was for them to have an accident. Even though Valkyrie's clothes and helmet would protect her from serious injury, she dont think that she could live with herself. Besides, Skulduggery would never shut up about it.

They arrived at Cassandra's in good time. They pulled over and Tanith turned the engine off. The rumble faded, and it was silent. When Tanith looked down the road, she could not see the Bentley.

Val pulled off her helmet and turned to Tanith. She posed ridiculously and pouted.

"How do I look?" asked Valkyrie with a smile, waving a hand to her tangled hair. When Tanith rode, her curly hair became what you might call "windswept", but Val's became knotted and twisted.

"You look great." said Tanith, pulling off her own helmet. "And me?"

Valkyrie considered. "Annoyingly normal." she announced. Val sighed. "How?"

Tanith grinned at her irritation, "It comes naturally."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

Tamith heard the purr of the Bentley and turned to see it driving leisurely down the road. Its every movement was graceful and luxurious. It could do more if Skulduggery pushed it, which he never did if he could help it. Tanith's bike was what she affectionately called "a beast" and roared and snarled at the slightest of touches.

The Bentley parked smoothly and Ghastly, Skulduggery, Lex, and Ragnor got out. Lex smiled at the motorbike and came over to them.

"Nice bike." she said.

"Thanks." said Tanith, giving it a loving pat. "Are you into bikes?"

"My dad is...was...is..." said Lex, smiling slightly despite her confusion. "He loved them. He used to take me with him sometimes. He laughed when I screamed." Lex looked down at her hands.

Tanith smiled at her.

"That wasn't a race you know." said Skulduggery as he came up to stand by them.

"We know." said Tanith.

"But we still beat you." said Val.

"But it wasn't a race." said Ghastly.

"You're just jealous because we won." said Tanith.

"But you just said it wasn't a race?" said Ghastly.

Tanith smiled. "I changed my mind."

"We could of beat you." said Ghastly slowly. "We just chose not to. The Bentley is...delicate-"

Skulduggery rounded on him. "The Bentley is perfectly capable."

"Of course, I apologize." said Ghastly, holding his hands in the air with a smile on his face.

"The Bentley is just too superior to even bother racing against that two wheeled-"

"Hey, leave my bike out of this." said Tanith, patting it again.

"I like Tanith's bike." said Valkyrie.

"No." said Skulduggery.

"What?" said Valkyrie.

"You're not having one."

"I wasn't going to even ask-"

"Yes, you were."

Val glared at him and Tanith grinned at the look on her face. Lex looked amused, in a nice way. She looked as if she wanted to join in the conversation, but didn't know how. Ragnor looked bored.

"How old are you all?" said Ragnor, "Four hundred or four?"

"Twenty two." said Valkyrie.

"Eighty...eighty something." said Tanith. "I may have to check."

"Do I count when I was living too?" said Skulduggery.

"I'm not actually sure anymore." said Lex.

"Mentally or physically?" said Ghastly.

Ragnor scowled and turned away.

Ignoring this, Skulduggery strode up towards Cassandra's door. The others followed and so did Ragnor, his curiosity wiping out his stubbornness. Skulduggery raised his hand but before he could, Cassandra opened the door. She smiled warmly when she saw them all. She was wearing a long floral dress that fluttered in the ever so slight breeze.

"Hello." said Cassandra, "Do come in." She opened the door and the six of them filed into her home. Her house smelled sickly sweet like flowers but underneath that there was a musty smell like old books which smelled of age.

"Thank you for letting us see you, Cassandra." said Skulduggery.

Cassandra waved a hand, "Hush, I have nothing better to do." She turned to Tanith and smiled, "Ah, hello Miss Low. How long has it been?"

"I'm not quite sure, I lost some years." replied Tanith.

"Of course, that must of been dreadful." said Cassandra, sounding genuine. She whirled on Valkyrie. "Hello, my dear, did you forget about me in all the time you've been away?"

"No," said Valkyrie, "but I had some stuff to figure out."

"Understandable. Where did you go for all that time?"

"America." said Valkyrie. She shifted nervously.

"What brought you back?"

Valkyrie shrugged. Cassandra turned.

"Hello, Ghastly." said Cassandra.

"Hello, Cassandra." said Ghastly.

Now that what you might call the pleasantries were out of the way, Cassandra turned to Lex and Ragnor. "Hello, I assume you are the two I am dealing with?"

"Yes." said Lex. Ragnor gave a curt nod.

"I'll see what I can do. Please," she said to everyone, "Come and sit down."

Cassandra's living room was not large but had two plump sofas , an armchair, and a big fireplace. It was alight and flickering merrily. The room was very warm and the sweet fumes made Tanith quite sleepy. Tanith sat between Ghastly and Val. The couch was not huge, so they all had to squish in. Tanith didn't mind. Skulduggery sat in the armchair and Lex and Ragnor both sat by Cassandra on the other couch.

"The whole process of what we're about to do is supposed to be painless-" began Cassandra.

"What is this process?" interrupted Ragnor.

"Its quite simple-"

"I've tried to get through the block in my mind but I can't, and I'm a version of a sensitive myself. How are you going to do it when I can't?" said Ragnor.

Ever polite, Cassandra forced a smile. "Sometimes its easier if someone else does it." she said.

"Well, maybe-"

"Ragnor," said Skulduggery sharply, "Cassandra is trying to help you."

"I just dont see how she can do it when I-"

"Ragnor," said Tanith, "Shut up." Ragnor fell silent and Cassandra continued explaining the process to Lex, who was actually listening.

"He likes you." murmured Ghastly in Tanith's ear. When she looked at him, he looked amused.

"Oh, dont be ridiculous." she said. Ghastly smiled.

"It's obvious." he whispered.

Tanith rolled her eyes. "It's obvious it's no competition." she whispered back.

"Weak arms...glasses...you might like that sort of thing."

"Shut up. Now." she hissed.

He laughed quietly.

"So," said Cassandra, brining back Tanith's attention. "Who wants to go first?"

Ragnor scoffed. Lex shrugged and said "I guess I will."

"Thank you, if you would follow me." Cassandra beckoned and lead Lex to a different room. The others followed.

The door was white and had symbols carved into it in the deepest purple Tanith had ever seen. It was so close to black that the only way you could actually tell that it was purple was by catching the light on it in exactly the right way. Around the doorway were figures made of various things; twigs, fabric, leaves, and what looked like to be human hair. They seemed to whisper at Lex and Cassandra as they passed through but their voices were soft and kind rather than harsh and fierce like Tanith was expecting. As Tanith approached the doorway herself however, their voices began to hiss in fear. Tanith froze.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, bewildered.

"They do not like your sword." said Cassandra from the room. "You would do well to leave it."

Tanith hesitated slightly before depositing her sword in a umbrella holder underneath a coat rack by the door. The figures were tiny but creepy, so Tanith did not want to get on their bad side. She smiled apologetically at them, not sure if they could see it. Skulduggery came up behind her and placed his hat on a hook. After a pause, he placed his revolver down on the floor by the umbrella stand.

"Probably best to put your stick down, Valkyrie." he said.

Valkyrie frowned but followed his advice. Val came to the umbrella stand and placed her stick in it. She smiled at Tanith. Tanith smiled back, their two weapons in the umbrella stand looked ridiculous. Skulduggery and Ghastly went inside the room, followed by a reluctant Ragnor.

"Great." said Valkyrie as she gazed longingly at her stick. "Now I feel naked."

"So do I." sighed Tanith, looking at her sword.

"Hmm," said Valkyrie quietly, a grin spreading across her face. "Ghastly wouldn't complain."

Tanith mockingly swung for her and Valkyrie ducked out of the way, grinning impishly as Tanith's fist clipped the top of her head.

"Owww." Val said, trying to stifle her laugh.

"You deserved it." said Tanith. She stuck her tongue out at Val as she walked through the doorway. The figures voices this time seemed calm and welcoming, with filled Tanith with relief. God, they were freaky.

The room itself was very warm. Just like Cassandra's steam room, it had vents in the floor, but this room was smaller and more alien looking. The vents lined all of the walls and were about half a metre wide. This left a square of space in the middle of the room where Cassandra and Lex sat facing each other. They were sat on an exquisite caroert, which held may complicated swirls and designs. Skulduggery, Ghastly, and Ragnor were all standing on the vents. They looked uncomfortable, with the exception of Skulduggery of course, and had beads of seat rolling down their faces. Ragnor looked ruffled and haughty, as I'd he'd rather be anywhere but here. The walls of the room were like the door; pure white with deep purple symbols. There was no light in the room except the faint glow which came from the small fires that heated the vents. The room smelt fresh and clean. Not like hospitals which smelled of soap and hand sanitizer, but just clean and crisp and cold.

Valkyrie came in to stand beside Tanith. "Woah." she said as the heat hit her.

The door closed and they were inveloped in a blanket of warmth. The room was lit very dully now. Valkyrie removed her jacket and folded it over her arm. Tanith tied her hair back.

"If you two would stand to the sides, please?" said Cassandra.

"Of course." said Tanith, moving. "Sorry."

"I shall begin." said Cassandra to Lex, who exhaled nervously. Cassandra placed her fingertips on Lex's forehead. Cassandra closed her eyes and her body relaxed. The symbols on the walls lit up, sending shards of vivid purple light to dance on the floor. Lex looked nervously around as the symbols lit up. They pulsed once and Lex's eyes snapped shut and her head fell back. Cassandras fingertips seemed to be glued to Lex's forehead, and they seemed to hold up Lex's entire limp body. The pulsing got faster and faster as time went on.

Cassandra's hands never shook or wavered while they were connected to Lex's temple. Lex herself however shook from head to toe and Tanith could see her eyes moving frantically beneath her eyelids. Tanith found herself compelled to watch the scene; it looked like something out of a bad horror movie. Valkyrie was staring too, but she looked more apprehensive than curious.

The symbols on the walls got brighter and brighter until Tanith could barely force her eyes to stay open. She tried to shield her eyes with her palm, but the light was coming from all around and from all angles, so it didn't really do much. The violet light flickered across the faces of her friends, distorting them until they were unrecognisable. Valkyries face looked thin and gaunt, the dark shadows that were usually around her eyes becoming more prominent and deep. Skulduggery's skull looked scarier in the light. Dark shapes formed from the shadow cast by his high cheekbones and made the lines of his jaw look sharper and harsher. Ragnor's usually unimpressed face had changed into a look of suppressed curiosity. He was wearing his thin framed glasses, and the purple light reflected off them and shone in Tanith's eyes when she looked his was. Ghastly's scars were emphasised by the light and made them look like fresh gashes rather than ancient scars.

The symbols pulsed once more and got so bright that it looked like they were made out of a bizarre purple flame. Tanith couldn't help it; she closed her eyes. Imprints of the patterns on the walls were burned into her eyelids. The world seemed to sway beneath her, which greatly unsettled her. She was so used to being perfectly balanced that any feeling of uncontrollable movement made her stomach squirm and her skin crawl. She bit her lip to hold back her startled gasp.

Quietly at first, the whispering started. It was a seas of hushed voices, that seemed to come from inside her own head rather than by the door. The sound got louder and louder and the voices mingled together until Tanith could not hear single voices anymore; she could only hear one. The world began to spin around her and for a moment she felt lost inside her own head. Everything seemed to melt away, the floor dissolved first and then she was floating, weightless. A noise filled her head and replaced the loud whispers. It was a noise similar to white noise but so much more than that. Nothing seemed to exist, not even Tanith herself, until she was brought violently back to the earth by a long and shrill scream.

Tanith's eyes opened and she went to grab her sword before she remembered it wasn't there. The room was back to normal and looked murky. Tanith's eyes needed a !minute to adjust to the dim light. She blinked hurriedly, trying to clear her head of the fog. Somehow she had ended up on her knees, which surprised her, but she soon dragged herself up again. She saw Val on her knees beside her and wordlessly offered her a hand. Val took it with a grateful smile and Tanith wrenched her to her feet. Looking around, she saw Ghastly on his knees groaning. For a moment, her heart seized and panic flooded her body, but then Ghastly got up and smiled at her. Her heart and muscles relaxed and she took a breath. She smiled tentatively back.

A gasp brought her eyes to Lex, who was on her knees with her hands over her face. Her nails dug into her face and left shallow red marks. Cassandra was speaking softly, her tone soothing. Her ringed hands were on Lex's shoulders in a comforting way. Lex was shaking and her hands moved from her face to wrap around herself. Her eyes were round and disbelieving.

"Disturbing..." murmured Cassandra, "Very disturbing..." she rubbed Lex's shoulders.

"Can we get out of here?" asked Lex, her voice stiff. "Please?" she added.

"Of course." said Cassandra, helping her to her feet. Lex's knees were practically knocking together, like they could not support her weight. She staggered out of the room, assisted by Cassandra. The others followed, not wanting to ask any questions - yet.

Tanith took her sword from the umbrella stand on her way out and returned it to its natural place on her back. Valkyrie took her stick. All of them were wordless. Cassandra led Lex and sat her on the couch, where she put her head in her hands. Her face was ghostly pale. There was a minute of complete silence where everyone, even Skulduggery, was lost for words.

Skulduggery soon found her voice again, as he always did. "What-?"

Cassandra looked at him, and then at Lex. "Maybe it would be best if you didnt-"

"I dont mean to be the insensitive one, but we must know what you saw." said Skulduggery. Tanith pressed her lips together, silencing herself.

"It is not my decision." said Cassandra.

"Go ahead." said Lex in a hoarse voice. "Just dont ask me to watch again."

Cassandra hesitated, but after a brief moment, she stood. "If you dont mind, there's no harm. Follow me."

Everybody followed Cassandra out of the room, leaving Lex on the couch alone.

"Will Lex be okay?" Valkyrie asked Cassandra as soon as they were out of earshot.

"She'll recover I'm sure. I had to push pretty hard to get through to her other memories and it was quite painful, as I'm sure you heard." Cassandra led them to her steam room and picked up an umbrella. "But I dont think she will ever be the same."

"Is it that bad?" asked Tanith.

Cassandra settled in the middle of the room and gestured to Ghastly and Skulduggery. They dropped handfuls of flame through the grates and the room slowly began to get hotter and hotter.

"See for yourself." said Cassandra, opening her umbrella and gesturing to the wheel on the wall. Tanith turned it and water fell into the grates. There was a wild hissing sound and steam blossomed into the air. It got so thick that it obscured the others from her view. Tanith's skin became sticky and uncomfortable, her wet hair from the water not helping. She didn't mind the wet hair though. Ghastly would dry it for her.

The steam swirled in front of Tanith and formed an image. It was a silhouette that got clearer by the second. The person was tall and thin with stick like limbs. As the image came into focus, Tanith recognised Lex. She was obviously younger. She had not quite 'grown into herself' and she was long and lanky. She had large square front teeth. Her hair was darker, more brown than blonde, and she had a block fringe that covered her forehead. Her cheeks were plumper than the rest of her, which made Tanith think that she was only just getting out of childhood. She had several spots on her face.

Suddenly, Lex began to run. Her hair flew out behind her and she kept on looking back. She kept on stumbling. To Tanith, she looked as if she was running on a treadmill, but the pictures background formed and showed what looked like school corridors. The floors were polished and her flimsy shoes squeaked. The sound in the memory became less distorted and laughter floated into Tanith's ears. The laughter got harsher louder. Lex flew up a set of stairs, taking them two at a time and yanking herself up with the banister.

She grabbed the handle of a door on top of the stairs and wrenched. It didn't open. Lex looked despairing for a moment before turning around. The sound of running footsteps was getting closer, and for a second Lex looked as if she was considering the window. She changed her mind and took a deep breath, her hands forming into fists by her sides. A group of girls and boys came up the stairs, giggling as they went. They were breathless from running but they all grinned triumphantly at the sight of her scared face.

"What's the matter, Elise?" teased one, a girl with chocolate brown hair.

"Its almost as of you were trying to get away." said a boy.

Elise swallowed but said nothing.

"What's the matter? You were more eager to talk when you were surrounded by teachers." said a girl with several piercings in her ears.

Elise's eyes darted to the window again and Tanith could tell that she was calculating how much it would hurt to jump compared to what they might do to her.

The group didn't see her looking, but stepped towards her.

"What did you say again?" said the girl with the chocolate brown hair.

Elise again said nothing.

"Awwh," said a boy, "she's scared."

"She is." said another with a sickly smile.

"There's no need to be scared." said the girl with the lip piercing. "All you need to do is apologize for what you said."

Elise wasn't stupid, she knew they'd hurt her anyway. At last she found her voice, "And what did I say?" Her voice was quiet and timid.

"Something about Tommy, here."

"Ohhh." said Elise slowly, her eyes narrowed as she considered her options. "Was that that thing where I said that if all guys were like Tommy, I'd be a lesbian?"

"You know it was." said the boy Tanith assumed was Tommy icily.

"Ah, of course. Even the teacher smiled at that one. Maybe they're starting to realise that you're not as innocent as you seem."

"You humiliated me."

Elise laughed hollowly. There was no true humor there. "I told the truth."

The girl with the chocolate brown hair scowled. "I think you should apologize."

Elise raised her eyebrows, an empty gesture. It was obvious that she was more scared then she was trying to show. "I think you should go screw yourself."

Elise bolted to the side as they rushed at her angrily. For a second, it looked like she might get away via the window. Their fingers scraped against her shoulders but she shook them off. She was just opening the window when they grabbed her and dragged her back. She panicked and flailed, lashing out and catching Tommy in the stomach with her fist. He gasped and tossed her onto the floor like a ragdoll.

Tanith was filled with revulsion as she realized that she did not want to see this. They all began laying in kicks to her sides, her legs, her back. She wrapped her arms over her head and cried out when each one hit. She tried to curl up but the kicks didn't let her. She tried to kick them back but that only made them laugh. All of them were laughing, which made Tanith sick to her stomach. They were kids. Normal kids with normal sounding laughter that echoed eerily through the halls. Soon enough, Elise was too winded to even make a noise, so the only sound was their joy and it was a sick and twisted thing. Tanith just couldn't figure out why.

They gave Elise a break and allowed her crawl away. She curled up against the wall and wept, her tears mixing with the blood dribbling from her mouth. Her breathing was rough and ragged, but she managed to gasp out "What did I ever do to you really? Please. Please. Leave me alone "

None of them said anything for a moment, but Tanith didn't dare hope that they might stop. Then the girl with the lip piercing said "Pathetic."

They started forwards to continue their onslaught, and Elise whimpered. Tanith wanted to turn away. She began to crawl away, each movement stiff and sore from the beating she had taken. The boy, Tommy, reached for her so that they could continue their game.

Elise cried out a mangled protest. Her hand whipped out in front of her and a wave of air hit Tommy and sent him flying backwards. He collapsed in a heap. The others were too stunned to speak or move. Elise looked more shocked, and she looked at her hands in pure disbelief.

"What?" she whispered.

The others were helping Tommy up and he was groaning. He wasn't seriously hurt but the look on his face made Elise go paler than before. Seeing her chance, she fled and disappeared down the stairs, the group watching her go in shock and fear.

That was the end of the first memory.

The next memory appeared quickly, out of nowhere. A woman with a blurry face knocked on a door. A black van was parked on the pavement behind her. Elise opened the door and frowned when she saw who it was.

"Um," she said, "Do I know you?"

"No." said the woman. She was English. "I have been sent by your school to talk to you."

"My parents are out." said Elise.

"I know. May I come in?" requested the woman.

"No."

The woman smiled. "I think you'll find our conversation enlightening."

Elise raised her eyebrows, "How so?"

The woman smiled again, showing perfect teeth. Her face came into view. She had warm brown eyes and brown hair. She wordlessly held up her hand. A pound coin was on her palm. Slowly, it rose up into the air and stayed there, suspended. A worried look crossed Elise's face and she bit her lip. She stared at the coin and considered.

"Come in, quickly." she said eventually. She ushered the woman in and led her to the couch. They sat down.

"Explain." said Elise. The woman began to talk, her voice was kind and soft. Her voice faded and the image grew faint. After a few seconds, it came back into view. It was the same place, but a little later, Tanith assumed.

The woman put her arm around Elise's shoulders. "Its okay." she said soothingly. "Its a lot to take in."

"Do I really have to change my name?" asked Elise, her eyes wide.

"Yes." said the woman, squeezing her. "But its worth it."

"I'm not sure if I could do that..."

"You can take your time of course." said the woman gently.

"What name did you choose?" asked Elise interestedly.

The woman's smile flickered for a moment before she replied "Celeste Snare."

"Why?"

Celeste paused. "It suits me."

"I dont know what name would suit me..." said Elise miserably. "Can't I just keep the name I have?"

Tanith noticed that Celeste withheld the fact that you could be influenced by your given name, so Elise was clueless. Tanith pitied her. Elise seemed like a different person to Lex. Elise was gullible and eager but Lex was smart and cautious. Tanith pitied Elise more than Lex at the moment, however she had a feeling that may change.

"You can't keep your name and be a true sorcerer." replied Celeste.

"Oh." murmured Elise softly.

"Dont you want to be stronger, Elise?" asked Celeste, her voice growing stronger when she said her name. She was using her name to influence her. It was cruel and unnecessary but Celeste seemed like the sort of person who liked to get her claws in deep.

Like a fly caught in a spiders web, Elise replied "I do."

The steam swirled around the room and formed the next memory. Tanith caught a glimpse of Valkyrie, Ghastly, and Skulduggery as it changed and they all looked very severe. Or Ghastly and Valkyrie did at least. Skulduggery's skull was always severe.

The next memory was also at a school. Tanith could tell from the sound if chatter and laughter coming from all directions. The scene they were watching however was much more serious. Elise was stood in the corner, surrounded by her tormentors, but she did not look as if she was cowering. The way she leant on the wall was casual and confident, rather than scared. Her tormentors looked more afraid than her, even though they were trying to hide it. Their faces were blank but they did not know to hide the signs of fear in other parts of their bodies. They were trembling slightly, fists clenched, sweat forming on the back of their necks. Their hands were placed at their sides lightly, as if they were ready to move them at any sudden occurrence. Their breathing was too evenly paced to be natural. They hide their fear very badly if you knew what to look for.

Elise smiled slightly as the boy called Tommy said something. Her fingers came up by her face and she wiggled her fingers slowly, as if feeling the air. The group watched apprehensively.

"I dont understand what you're trying to say." said Elise.

"What we're saying," said the girl with the piercing, "is that you're a freak."

"Well," replied Elise viciously, "That's not new."

The brown haired one sneered, "We always new there was something wrong with you. And now we know that you're dangerous. We could ruin you."

Elise laughed and Tanith almost, almost, cracked a smile. Brown hair's attempt at a threat was pretty weak, considering her voice was squeaky and her knees were practically knocking together.

"If that's all..." Elise pushed them apart and strode through. They stumbled and caught themselves before they fell. If Tanith wasn't mistaken, Elise had used a tiny amount of air to assist her shove. The group hadn't noticed.

Tommy, the boy, grabbed her shoulder and pushed her into the wall. Tanith expected to hear a thud and a cry of pain when Elise hit it, but she never even came into contact with it. The air cushioned her and managed to stop her.

Elise's eyes flashed a starling blue for a second, her face tightening in suppressed anger.

"Don't." she warned, her fingers flexing.

Tommy walked up to her, his eyes met her own and Tanith knew that he had seen her eyes change. "I dont know what kind of this thing you are, but do you think that your entire personality has changed just because you're some freak now? You're still scared and helpless, and nothing will change that."

Elise paused, looking at him. Then her fist moved. She struck Tommy around the face, the air forming a fist around her own and adding to the force of it. The solid air was clearly visible, and that made brown hair and piercings back away in fear. Tommy fell backwards, only managing to catch his balance when he hit the opposite wall. Her moaned, and a trickle of blood ran from his lip.

"Am I still scared?" spat Elise, walking towards Tommy as he shuffled away. Brown Hair and Piercings looked as if they could not comprehend what was happening.

Elise closed in on Tommy. She was shaking, as if all of the rage she must of felt when they hit her was flooding through her body all at once. Tanith grimaced, he deserved it and Tanith would of done the same in Elise's shoes, but it didn't make it anymore pleasant to watch.

Elise hit him again and the crack echoed through the halls. Tommy spat out more blood. "Still helpless?" said Elise. Tommy sniffed. Elise looked at him, disgust in her eyes.

"I wish I could make you feel how I felt." she said, "I wish I could make you hate yourself as I hated myself...I know it's not right, but I wish I could." She turned to go.

Tommy leaped at Elise, his rage clear on his face. His fingers were formed into claws and as he grabbed her his fingers raked over Elise's eyes. She cried out and swung for him, but she missed.

"Get off me!" she snarled. His nails dug into her cheeks and left red marks. He grabbed her hair and dragged her back with it. Elise cried out and her legs flailed to try and keep herself on her feet. Tommy threw her to the ground and kicked her. The wind rushed out of her in a ragged gasp and Tommy launched another kick, aimed at her head. Elise's arms covered her head at the last moment and a shield of air formed. Tommy's foot slammed against the wall of air and he yelled in pain. Elise rolled away from him and clambered up to her feet. She hit him again. His head snapped sideways and droplets of blood were sprayed in Tanith's direction. She recoiled before she realised that it was just a memory. Stop, she found herself thinking, he's had enough.

"You won't hurt me again." shouted Elise as a wall of air pinned Tommy to the wall. She turned and glared at Brown Hair and Piercings. They were cowering and frozen, unsure of what to do.

"Do not come near me again. Dont speak to me. Don't touch me. Dont even look at me." she said. She allowed Tommy to stand. He should of stopped. He should of just stopped.

But he didn't. He was young and arrogant and proud. He struck Elise around the back of the head and Tanith saw something in her eyes snap. Fury clouded her vision.

With a harsh sweep of her hand, Elise let loose a vicious strike that sent Tommy flying. He hit the wall with a tremendous force and there was a sickening crack. He fell in a heap. Her twitched for ten seconds whilst everyone was watching and then he stilled. Tanith felt her own face twist in horror. The only sound now was Elise's ragged breathing. She stared at Tommy, her hands trembling. Blood from her punches trickled lazily from between his lips.

Piercings screamed, the sound startling Tanith out of her wits. Piercings hands went to her face and her painted nails dug into her skin as she despaired. Brown Hair seemed too shocked to react.

Elise stared, her hands moving in front of her face. She gawped at them as if they weren't her own. Tears began to run fluidly from her eyes.

"Noo..." she moaned, "Noooo...I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to, I barely hit you...barely hit...please God no."

"Help!" screamed brown eyes, "Help!" The sound of panicked voices and hurried footsteps fluttered into the scene. People were coming.

"No, please!" cried Elise, backing away. "It was an accident I swear! I didn't mean to...oh god!" She had raised her hands in a gesture of surrender but Brown Eyes and Piercings had screeched in fear. "Please, dont! I won't...please!"

Elise froze as the footsteps grew close. People were shouting, asking what was wrong.

"Help!" cried Brown Hair again, "She's going to kill us!"

"No!" Elise protested, but the approaching people had heard. Elise's horrified face turned to Tommy's broken body once more, before she turned her back and ran down the corridor.

The memory ended, and Tanith's head was reeling from it. Before she had chance to even think it over, the memory changed.

Steam turned into delicate snowflakes as the next scene formed. Fresh snow covered everything, including a small person shaped bundle hudling in a doorway. Her hood was drawn up and her face was buried in the neck hole of her jacket. She shook uncontrollably despite her many layers. The wind tossed her brilliant red hair about but the girl didn't seem to mind. She sat there, motionless except from her shaking. Just the sight of the scene made Tanith get goosebumps.

A man in a good suit strode down the street, his shoes avoiding the worst of the snow. He stopped in front of the girl and waited expectantly. She did not move. He knelt down shook her shoulder gently. She raised her head.

Tanith recognised Elise. Her hair was different and her eyes were a different colour, but her face was the same. Her lips were blue around the edges and her cheeks were crimson with the cold.

"W-w-what?" she said, her teeth clattering together.

"I came to see if you were alright." said the man. He had a sweet, enticing voice.

"Y-you shouldn't of bothered." she said, "If this continues I'll be dead before morning. It was a noble gesture, but wasted. Now go."

The man didn't move. He smiled. "What's your name?"

"Piss off." said Elise.

"I dont believe that's your name." said the man. Elise scowled at went to get up, but she swayed and fell. The man caught her, and she tried to shake him off he didn't go.

"Get the hell off me!" she cried, trying to yank away.

He clutched her and didn't let go. She went to hit him but he avoided it and frowned. "Elise." he scolded.

Elise froze and looked at the man with disbelief. Tanith finally saw his face. His golden eyes glittered and he smiled.

Ravel.

Disgust filled her. She had been a remnant when it happened but he had betrayed them all. When she had heard, she wanted to rip him limb from limb. But he was dead now. Obliterated. That was extremely satisfying.

"That's also not my name." replied Elise after a moment. "Who are you?"

"My name is Erskine Ravel. Who are you?"

"No one. Did Celeste send you?" Her tone was harsh and to the point. She was still trembling with the cold.

"Celeste..?" said Ravel, looking as if he was casting his mind back. "Oh, of course. No she did not. I sent her, actually."

Elise frowned, "Wh-what?" she paused, shivering, "Why?"

"To help you."

Elise laughed coldly. "Help me?" she exclaimed incredulously, "You ruined my life. Why are you back?"

"We lost you-"

"More like you lost interest." scoffed Elise. "Its been three years. Three years of living on the street, cold, wet, tired, starving. I tried begging but nobody cares enough to not ignore me. I tried stealing, but that got the police on my tail and people got hurt. I live my life now eating salvageable food out of bins. I try to sneak remainders of food from plates in restaurants. I'm constantly cold. I haven't had a shower that wasn't rain in months. I tried the gym but they threw me out to. I began to get low, and the only way I though I could eat or rest or be warm was by harming myself and going to the hospital. They caught on though, and sent me away, just like the rest. This is what you did to me."

"I am very sorry." said Ravel.

Elise studied his face, her eyes narrowing. "No you're not." she said finally.

"Its over now. We found you. We have somewhere safe, where you can learn-"

"I am not going with you. I don't want to be stronger or fight. I can't even live on the streets in peace because of my magic. I can't stay in the same place for more than a month because they notice."

"Notice what?" asked Ravel, sounding genuinely curious.

"This." said Elise. Her eyes began to change. They shifted between a range of colours until it became a continuous flumoxing rainbow. Her hair grew and changed colour. Then it returned t what it already was.

Ravel took a moment to starts before saying, almost to himself, "Shifter."

"What?" asked Elise.

"Nothing..." he said. "We can help you control it, and then you can leave."

"What if it can't be controlled?" Elise said quietly.

"Then we'll help you. But it can be. I know it. You are not the first person we have helped."

"Why should I go with you? All of this is your fault. I'm a wanted criminal...a murderer. My parents hate me. They think I'm a monster."

"You have your reason then. You have no other option." what Ravel said was harsh, but his voice was gentle.

Elise said nothing.

"We could make them forget." said Ravel after a pause.

"What do you mean?" asked Elise, her eyes wide.

"Your parents. We could make them forget that it ever happened. They would love you again. You could help people." said Ravel gently.

Elise bit her lip and hugged herself. For cold or comfort, Tanith could not tell.

"Come on, Elise." said Ravel softly, holding out his hand with a natural smile, "Convince people you're not a monster."

Elise's brows furrowed but she took Ravels hand tentatively. "You are annoyingly persuasive."

"It has been said." replied Ravel.

They walked together down the street for a few minutes. Elise dropped Ravel's hand and shoved her hands in her pockets. Ravel said nothing of it.

Another moment passed, and Elise asked "Why are you doing this?"

If Ravel was truthful, he would of said that he wanted to raise an army, but of course he wasn't so instead he smiled.

"Because you need help." His eyes shone. "Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas."

The next memories were blurred and fast. Scences flickered in the steam and very occasionally, Tanith caught a glimpse not people. There was the sound of fists hitting leather and Tanith saw Elise with pink hair pummelling the punching bag. She saw Elise holding a training sword as she sliced at a dummy. She saw her being taught were the bodies most vunerable parts were. She saw her fighting, training, learning.

A voice drifted from the blur of memories. "Before you can learn to fight using magic, you must fist learn to fight without magic."

"But I dont want to learn how to fight at all." protested Elise, her voice cautious.

"You must." ordered an anonymous voice.

The scene faded and a similar scene came next.

"Cant I learn other magic? Why do I have to be an elemental?" asked Elise.

"You must lean elemental magic first, and then you can choose to study other branches of magic." said a male shaped figure.

"But-"

A slap cut off her words. The cheek that had been struck reddened. Elise glared at the man. "Do not argue, Elise Longden."

Elise's eyebrows raised when he said her given name. A soft smile came to her lips, although she was still angry in her eyes. The man hit her again, with a fist rather than a palm, and the surprise of it sent Elise sprawling. The crack seemed so loud in the steam room.

Elise rose with her eyes closed and her fists clenched in forced calm. She opened her eyes and Tanith almost gasped when she saw that they were vivid red in anger.

The man made a noise of confusion and shock and whispered "What..?"

The scenes began to flicker again. Tanith saw Elise weeping, her tears making her face swell. A figure stood over her.

"Why did you make me do it?" she sobbed.

"It was necessary...you needed to learn. To be strong." said the figure.

"You said I would be safe here. Please let me go." she begged. "I won't tell anyone, I swear. Just let me-"

The scene changed again.

It was dark, but light enough to see. Tanith squinted and saw Elise jogging barefoot. She was in a simple outfit of a black vest and leggings, and her hair was tied back. She kept close to the wall, pausing occasionally to stop and look back behind her. When she heard voices, she went pale and pressed herself against the wall. She held her breath and closed her eyes. When she realised that the voice weren't getting any closer, she began to creep closer to the end of the corridor. Before she could reavhnit, a door that had once been invisible in the dark opened and sent a dusky light out into the corridor. A woman swept out, and said goodbye to the people inside the room. She let go of the door and it swung closed until it was only a centimetre open.

Elise's mouth hung open in horror and she pressed herself more firmly against the wall. The woman walked towards her in the dark. Elise closed her eyes and then she was gone. The woman swept past the place she was without any hesitation.

She rounded a corner and was gone.

Elise opened her eyes, and Tanith saw her eyes hovering in midair. Tanith smiled. Her skin was black, and it blended in flawlessly with the dark. She sighed softly, and her skin changed back.

Elise held out her hand and splayed it. Tanith assumed that it was to stop the shiftings in the air. She snuck up to the door on her tiptoes, breathing slowly and quietly. She reached the door and leant against the wall again, listening intently.

A male voice drifted out of the gap, "She's becoming...resistant."

A female voice replied, "Resistant? How so?"

"She argues, she protests...it's small things I know but its unusual."

"Unusual? She's a teenager." the woman had a smile in her voice.

"Meaning what?" snapped the man, obviously not liking being challenged.

"I guess she's just hormonal and going through her rebellious teenage faze." tittered the woman.

"I-" began the man, but he was cut off by another male voice.

"That's enough, Victor." said Ravel, "You too, Rea."

The woman sighed.

"Do you think we should wipe her?" asked Ravel. Elise gave the quietest gasp, and covered her mouth with her hand.

Victor hesitated. "Perhaps as a precaution..."

"Why?" demanded Rea, "She's just a girl, what can she do? Let her have her 'rebelliousness'"

"You'd be surprised." said Victor, "And that brings us onto what I had meant to tell you..."

"What is it?" questioned Ravel.

"The girl...she...I hit her and-"

The woman laughed, "Did you hurt your hand?"

"Rea, enough." said Ravel, frustration leaking into his usually calm voice.

"Sorry." she said.

"Well, she..." Victor continued nervously, as if he was concerned that he was going to be interrupted. "Her eyes changed colour."

"What do you mean?" said Ravel.

"One second they were blue as ever, the next they were red."

"Red..." muttered Ravel quietly, obviously thinking. "In anger?"

"Well, she didn't look pleased." said Victor.

"I haven't heard of anything like this before...except..."

"What?" urged Rea.

"Shapeshifter." said Ravel. "I always suspected but part of me thought it was a fluke."

"But that's impossible." said Rea.

"What else could it be?" said Ravel.

"A trick of the light perhaps?" she said lightly.

"I know what I saw." said Victor firmly.

There was a loud sound of a chair scraping backwards and someone getting up. Elise momentarily lost her balance in surprise but she managed to stifle her gasp this time. Her skin turned black once more but the soft light from the door made the shape of her visible. Footsteps started and Elise trembled but the sound got louder and then quieter again. It was the sound of pacing, and Tanith assumed that it was Ravel.

"If she is a shapeshifter...she'd be the first for...what, half a century?" said Victor.

"Not necessarily," said Rea, "Many may have kept their abilities secret."

"Why?"

"Think about it." she said, "Shapeshifters were used in the war against Mevolent because of their abilities, and that's partly the reason they are almost extinct. If you were a shifter, wouldn't you keep it secret so you could live a life away from all of those people trying to recruit you?"

"But they could protect themselves." said Victor.

"Most could...but not against everything." said Rea.

"If she is a Shapeshifter..." said Ravel, "Then this is huge. She could fight for us, be a soldier."

"She won't do it willingly." said Victor.

Ravel paused, his steps stopping. "Then wipe her." he said simply.

Elise gasped. They must of heard her, thought Tanith

"Elise Longden, come in here." said Ravel. Elise did not move.

They waited. "Must be someone else." said Rea. Tanith heard two more chairs scraping across the floor.

"No..." said Ravel slowly. He walked out into the corridor, his companions following him. Victor had blonde hair and big eyes, and Rea had dark hair and slightly tilted eyes.

"Elise?" repeated Ravel again.

Elise was pressed firmly against the wall, and you could only see her outline if you looked hard. Even if they could see it, they wouldn't of recognised it for a human shape.

"It might not be her." said Victor, looking around.

"She gasped because she knew that we were referring to her." said Ravel.

They all walked past the spot where she was, not even glan ing in that direction. Tanith could hear no breathing, not even when she strained her ears. She was probably holding her breath. It was working, but how long could that last?

The group prowled up the corridor, moving their gaze around as they looked for her.

"She might of ran." suggested Rea.

"No, we would of heard her footsteps." said Ravel. He clicked his fingers and he caught the spark and turned it into a flame. He cupped it in his palm. The light from it was bright but it barely reached where Elise was. Tanith could see more of Elise's shape now, and someone like Ravel was sure to notice. Elise knew that too. She began to tremble.

The group turned around and started back down the corridor. The closer they got, the more of Elise was revealed. She went to sneak away, but froze when Ravel said,

"There."

She bolted, but the others were too fast for her. Ravel sent a wall of air slamming into her back and it sent her sprawling. Rea and Victor sprinted to her. Elise pulled herself up and tried to run but they got hold of her arms and dragged her away. She cried and weeped, thrashing in their grip. She spat and swore and threatened but still they dragged her away. Her hair was rapidly changing colour and so were her eyes. Ravel moved his hands and used the air to hold her in place, suspended. She couldn't move, but she still cursed all three of them.

"What do you expect to gain from that?" said Ravel, his hands out in front of him casually.

"Go to hell." spat Elise.

"Now, Elis-" Ravel paused. "I assume because you didn't obey me when I called you by your given name means that you now have a new name?"

"I took it years ago." she dismissively.

"Who told you that given names could be used to control you? Somebody obviously did because otherwise you would not told everyone you took a name."

"It doesn't matter. One of the girls. I realised that you must have been using it to control me all these years, so I didn't tell you when I took a name just so I could see how often you controlled me." she snarled the word controlled as if it hurt to say.

"We didn't control you all of the time." said Ravel bluntly. "That desperation that brought you her in the first place? All yours. Not ours."

Elise's face coloured in anger. "I admit I was stupid. I just wanted to be safe. Happy."

"We didn't control you when you killed your first person." stated Ravel as if they were having a normal conversation.

"You forced me to. Me or him, you said." Tears began to fall from her eyes.

Tanith blinked and for a brief, awful, moment she saw the weeping woman she had killed. With her children. With her swollen face. With her pleas and her terror. With Tanith's knife in her belly. The woman had poisioned her husband, but the blood on Tanith's hands would not be washed off. She thought that she had honoured the woman by taking her name as her own, but now to Tanith it was a constant reminder of all the bad things that she had done in her lifetime.

"I said your first man." continued Ravel, his gold eyes glittering.

Elise did not reply, and looked blank.

"Dont you remember Tommy?" asked Ravel.

Elise gasped and her face paled as the blood rushed out of it. Her eyes widened and momentarily went glassy as she relieved the moment. She shook.

"Dont." she warned. "Dont."

Ravel looked at her for a moment. His face was expressionless. After a long while, he said "Wipe her as soon as possible."

"What?" said Elise in fright, "No!" Elise shouted. "No! Please..."

"Everyone who joins us goes through it as some point. It makes certain that you're loyal soldiers."

"I am a person!" she cried, "You can't take away my free will!"

Ravel turned and handed some shackles to Rea. She took them and clipped them onto Elise's wrists. She writhed when Rea and Victor took hold of her arms once more.

"We'll leave nothing except your given name. You won't even remember this encounter." said Ravel matter of factly, ignoring Elise's tears.

"You can't do this!" she yelled.

Ravel didn't even blink. "If you want to keep the given name you have now, tell me now and I'll make sure they leave that."

Elise stilled and she exhaled as she tried to stop weeping. The fight drained out of her and she drooped. "Lex Avalon." she announced.

Ravel smiled slightly and then nodded, "Very well. Goodbye, Elise Longden. I believe I will be seeing Lex Avalon shortly."

Lex said something very rude indeed, and that despite everything made Tanith smile a little. Rea and Victor looked grim as they dragged Lex down the corridor. Her feet scraped uselessly against the floor. Her hair was wild and ragged and her blue eyes were like coins and full of fear. The last thing Tanith heard of Elise Longden were her screams and pleas as she was taken to have everything she was inside removed.

The steam drifted away and Ta with saw the other's faces. Cassandra looked grim. Ghastly looked shocked. Valkyrie looked shocked. Ragnor looked scared. Skulduggery looked stern, but all he had was a skull so Tanith didn't mind.

The looked around at each other, none of them finding words.

Hello! I am author of this fanfiction *waves*. I have something to say.

This chapter, was a bitch.

I don't say that lightly. This chapter was extremely difficult to write and I struggled to find the time to. I didn't want to ramble on and on about Lex's past, but I could of written an entire novella about her and her experiences. Obviously, I had to condense it, do if some of the scenes seem rushed or...(what's the word?) not as intricate as they might usually be, I apologize. In truth I'm really nervous about posting it. I hope you guys like it and I hope you're not angry or upset that I dedicated another chapter (sort of) to Lex. I just felt like she needed it so that you guys could understand her better. I will get back onto the whole Val, Skulduggery, Ghastly, Tanith, plotline. And boy do i have a great idea. Im so looking forward to writing it, aha.

If you dont like this chapter, please let me know, because I won't write anymore about it. Tell me why. Just tell me. It makes it so much easier.

I dont know if I will be dedicating a chapter like this to Ragnor because 1) it took ages, and 2) Unlike Lex's, I dont have his entire story planned in my brain. Sorry if that disappoints people. You will be getting some back story, of course, but his will be simpler and shorter. I just dont have much to say on him. But again let me know how you feel about this.

The next chapter. It could go two ways. Its either going to be in Valkyrie's perspective were she talks to Lex and helps her cope with everything. More information on Lex could be revealed if thats what is wanted. I was thinking about having Valkyrie go visit her parents and sister but im not sure. It may include a kickass fight scene...where Feral n' Co may show up. Maybe.

The other way it could go is where it is told in the perspective of Dexter and Saracen or Gracious and Donegan (and maybe Fletcher). This would just be them hunting down a sorcerer but I thought it'd be fun to write. If you have a preference, let me know because I am only planning on writing one more chapter where they find a sorcerer. I feel as if its getting boring and am going to change from details to "Person A and Person B found another sorcerer." Then I can get down to the nitty gritty stuff. *rubs hands together*

So basically:

1) How was this chapter? Did you enjoy it?

2) Do you like Lex? Is she boring? Should I get rid of her?

3) Next chapter... Valkyrie or one of the boys?

a) If I chose Valkyrie, should Feral turn up?

b) If I chose the boys, should it be Gracious and Donegan (and Fletcher) or Dexter and Saracen?

If you even slightly enjoyed this chapter, please review. You will have my thanks. Every review makes me squeal and genuinely warms my heart. Its amazing to know that people are getting enjoyment from what I enjoy.

I would also like to reinforce that Lex/Elise is not me. All events are fictional...etc etc. NOT ME. Okay?

Bye!


	8. Chapter 8: Valkyrie

After seeing what Lex had been through, Valkyrie was exhausted.

Well, maybe not exhausted exactly, but tired. Drained even. She didn't know why she felt this way, but it was if she had gone through all of the events herself, and they truly were awful.

She was filled with pity. Valkyrie could only imagine what Lex must of been feeling like, and it made her feel unbelievably sorry for her. It was strange, Valkyrie was so used to wallowing in self pity, that she found it difficult to adjust to having pity for someone else.

Seeing what Lex had lost had also given her the overwhelming urge to go home. In her heaft she wanted to see her family and spend time with them, but her brain knew that it wasn't so simple.

After the battle with Darquesse, Valkyrie had left. She said to her parents that she needed time to adjust and they were okay with it, as long as she called them regularly. She said that she would call weekly, but guilt at what she done made her call once every six months, if that. In those calls she told her patents that she was safe and happy and totally not lonely, and they'd accepted the lie easily enough. They were worried about her, but they had seen her save the world and knew that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. However, as they'd explained, worrying was a parents job.

So Valkyrie spent five years in self inflicted exile, with no one but Xena and the occasionall appearance of Danny to keep her company. She was left to her own thoughts, which led to loneliness, which led to self hate, which led to the crushing weight of sealing with what she'd done. She was miserable and guilt ridden and hating herself but Valkyrie accepted that she deserved it. Every second of pain was her punishment and she welcomed it with open arms.

Gant and Jeremiah had torn her from her exile, and in a way Valkyrie hated them for it. She didnt exactly blame them for trying to kill her. She wasn't really ready to return to her old life, but she knew that she needed to.

Skulduggery was quiet at first, checking if she was okay and able to handle herself. When he learned that she was better than he anticipated, he filled her in on what had happened when she was away. He said that all was quiet except for the rounding up of Ravel's sorcerers. Only the dregs remained; everyone in a high position had been arrested or killed in the struggle. Valkyrie listened and asked the right questions. Soon enough, she felt much better. The presence of Skulduggery had made her feel like a good guy again and although it made her feel guilty, she soon slipped back into her old self. So did Skulduggery.

Facing her parents was the worst thing. It wasn't their fault, they were overjoyed to see her on the doorstep, clutching a battered suitcase in one hand and a dog on a lead on the other. They took an instant liking to Xena, and Xena seemed to like them. No, it wasn't her parents, it was her.

She felt like a stranger in her own home. Nothing had changed, at least nothing big. There were new curtains in the living room and new toys scattered around the room. The house smelt familiar and comforting, but she felt like an invader. Like she was an alien creature not meant to be there. The hole in Valkyries heart gave a painful twang when she noticed how there were more pictures of her on the fireplace then there were before. She swallowed. Sat down. The couch was soft and comfortable, but her body was tense and she felt like she couldn't relax.

Her mum put the kettle on, made tea, and they all sat down. They talked for a while, Valkyrie explaining and her parents saying how much they understood, how it was all okay, how they missed her.

It made her go cold.

Alice.

That thought kepot on floating to the surface of her mind when she spoke to them. Alice, her sister, who was six. Alice her sister, who probably wouldn't recognise her. Alice, her sister, who Valkyrie had killed. She couldn't avoid it any longer.

"Where's Alice" she had asked.

Valkyries parents shifted nervously. "At school." said Valkyrie's Mum.

"Oh." Valkyrie had replied, feeling hollow. What month was it? October. Alice would be a month or so in school. Valkyrie went to ask if Alice liked school, but then faltered when she realised that she didn't deserve to know.

"Steph..." began Valkyrie's Mum, looking at her Dad anxiously.

"You've been gone a long time." said Valkyrie's Dad, hesitating slightly. "And Alice was only little when you left..."

"Just a baby really." said Valkyrie's Mum.

"And babies are very forgetful. Like goldfish." said Valkyrie's Dad Now, your sister hasn't turned into goldfish, or at least not since we saw he last. She may have had an unfortunate incident at school-"

"The point is," interrupted Valkyrie's Mum before Valkyries Dad went too far, "She may not, well," she paused, tentative, "She may not recognise you."

"Oh." said Valkyrie, feeling her heart sink a little. Selfish really. That's what you get, said the voice in the back of her mind. Maybe she'll only remember one thing about you.

"We're not trying to upset you, Steph. We just want you prepared for the worst." said Valkyrie's Mum.

Valkyrie had nodded, swallowing down her fear. Her parents had hugged her.

Valkyrie had sent the rest of that day waiting for Alice to come home. Her parents were going to pick her up and they had offered to take Valkyrie but she had refused. Maybe it would be best if Alice saw her in the house first, maybe it woukd help her recognise her. Her parents considered this and accepted that it may be the best idea. Valkyrie had lied to her parents, again. The real reason why she didnt want to go to pick up Alice was because she didnt think that Alice crying when she saw the face of her killer would look good on a playground. So Valkyrie was alone in the house and left to fret. The selfish part of her was excited to see her sister. Another part was nervous because she wanted Alice to recognise her. Her stomach writhed nervously and Valkyrie waited. Xena was curled on the floor in the corner, but she stood and padded over when she sensed Valkyrie's distress. Valkyrie rubbed between Xena's ears and tried to ignore the feelings eating away at her.

The door had opened. Valkyrie had frozen. Xena had gone and curled up in the corner again. Her parents were back. Valkyrie exhaled.

"Now Alice," said Valkyrie's Dad, "There's someone very special here to see you."

"Who, daddy?" said Alice, sounding happy. Her voice had the slight hesitation before each word which indicated how young she was.

"Go see." said Valkyrie's Mum.

Valkyrie's fist clenched. There was the sound of footsteps, soft footsteps. The door opened, Vallyire tensed but did not look at it. Not yet. A small figure came into the room, slightly nervous by the way she walked. She stopped in front of Valkyrie. Valkyrie looked up and forced a smile.

Alice stood in front of her. She was tall for her age and her hair had grown but it was still slightly wispy. Her school uniform looked adorable. Her shoes were cute. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked curiously at Valkyrie. God, she was beautiful.

Now or never.

"Hi, sweetie." said Valkyrie, her voice shaking.

There was a pause. A moment where everything was still and quiet. Valkyrie's parents slipped into the room. Valkyrie's heart pounded and she fought to keep the strained smile on her face.

"Its Stephanie." she said, trying to stop her voice from shaking.

After an eternity, Alice rushed forward and threw her arms around Valkyrie's neck. Valkyrie felt the bottom drop from her stomach.

"Stephanie!" cried Alice.

Her worries melted away. Her hands came up and wrapped around her sister as the fell backwards on the couch. She squeezed not wanting to let go. The strained smile on her face turn genuine and her heart felt like it was going to burst. Everything was okay. Her misery evaoportated, and the only thing that mattered was her sister, small but not as small as she used to be, laughing and she hugged Valkyrie. Everything was perfect and nothing else mattered, not the guilt or the loneliness or the pain. Nothing. Valkyrie felt the tears on her cheeks and realised she was sobbing. But she beamed as well. Through her tears, she smiled and let the happiness wash over her. While she still could.

Alice loosened her hold slightly. She touched Valkyrie's cheek and felt the liquid there.

"Why sad?" asked Alice, her brows furrowing in a frown.

Valkyrie hugged her again and then wiped her tears away. "I just missed you much."

"But you back?" mumbled Alice.

"Yes." said Valkyrie.

"And you'll stay?" she asked.

Valkyrie hesitated. She looked up into the gorgeous face of her baby sister, noticed how wide she smiled and how hopeful she looked. Valkyrie would do anything to keep that look on her face.

"Yes." Valkyrie had said.

And that was that, it terms of reintroductions. Xena had become fiercely protective of Alice and Alice loved Xena. Alice had nicknamed the dog "Zee Zee". Going home was simpler than Valkyrie would of thought, and that in its own way made her feel more guilty. But she had to live with it. She couldn't allow herself any more time for self pity. It was time to get back into the swing of things.

That led her here. Sitting in Cassandra Pharos's house with a warm cup of tea in her hand. Lex was beside her. Soon the others walked in, all clutching hot drinks except of course Skulduggery. Everyone sat down. There was brief pause.

"You are not responsible for anything that happened." said Cassandra, breaking the tense silence. Lex didn't reply. Her head stayed down, and she shook it slightly. She let out a shaky breath. Nobody knew what to say, not even Ragnor who must of had some idea what Lex must of been feeling. The silence continued for a while, only the soft fluttering of Cassandra's curtains breaking it.

Tanith cleared her throat, surprising everyone. Valkyrie's eyes shot up and saw Tanith place her mug on a counter and walk over to Lex, who didn't seem to notice. Tanith hesitated and then knelt down before Lex. She looked mildly surprised at herself. Valkyrie and Tanith's eyes met for a second and Valkyrie raised her eyebrows. Tanith gave a minuscule shrug and turned back to Lex.

"Um," she began as if searching for the right words, "look, I'm not very good at stuff like this so bear with me, and I guess I might not fully understand because our situations were quite different, I mean I know how you must feel- no wait that's not a good thing to start with...um, well-"

Lex looked up and cut off Tanith's babbling. Something that could of been a smile twitched on her lips. Valkyrie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Tanith, but she couldn't stop a faint smile from happening.

"Right, yeah, okay." muttered Tanith "Sorry." There was a pause. "What I'm trying to say is that, its going to be okay. It will. You might not believe me right now, but you'll be fine. I know how you must feel. I had a remnant inside me for years and it did terrible things which I can't even remember. At first I couldn't cope. I would walk by a crowd and people would look at me with nothing short of disgust in their eyes. I didn't know what I did, and in a way imagining the sort of things that happened was worse than actually knowing. But still...I hated myself. Even though I knew that it wasn't me that did those things...I just couldn't deal with it. So in a way our situations are the same. But you will learn how to cope, just like I did. You'll find people to support you, care for you, and help you..."

Was Valkyrie mistaken, or did Tanith's eyes momentarily flicker to Ghastly?

"And eventually you'll be able to recover. So don't despair, alright?" she finished. Lex smiled gratefully but still looked a little shaken. Tanith stood.

"Wow." said Skulduggery.

"Shut up. You just ruined it!" said Tanith.

"Nice speech." said Valkyire, a grin beginning to form on her face.

"You shut up as well, Val."

"Why?" Valkyrie said with a grin, "It was good. Cute."

"Oh my God." muttered Tanith.

"It was very impressive." said Ghastly.

Tanith rounded on him, "Really? Betrayal."

Valkyrie could tell she was joking from the amusement in her eyes. "Why are you getting so defensive?" she continued.

Tanith's eyes narrowed, "I am not getting defensi-"

"Why are you embarrassed?" said Skulduggery.

"I'm not-"

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Tanith, we understand. Remember, we're here for you." teased Ghastly.

"Oh my God, I'm going to kill you all." Tanith stated, exasperated.

"Aww, c'mon Tanith," whined you know you lov-"

BOOM.

The explosion sent the sofa flying, with all the people still on it. Valkyrie was too stunned to react and when she hit the floor, the sofa flipped and landed on her leg. Her amoured clothes stopped her leg from snapping, but the impact was enough to make her cry out. Her ears were ringing, but she could her people shouting. She groaned and tried to pull herself out, but Lex and Ragnor were on top of the sofa and her leg was trapped. Ragnor was clutching a presumably broken arm and moaning. Lex was sprawled between the sofa and the wall, her knees on the sofa and her head on the wall. Her stomach made a bridge between the two. Lex had a glazed look in her eyes and swayed slightly as she sat up. Her eyes widened as she raised a hand to her head. When she examined her fingertips there was blood there. Lex stood shakily. Valkyrie found herself thinking that it was a miracle Lex's neck had not snapped on impact. If it was enough force to draw blood, then it was enough to kill her. Valkyrie wasn't as concerned by this as she thought she should be. Valkyrie was in pain and her thoughts were clouded, but she knew that she needed to get out.

Slowly, she began to try and wriggle out from beneath the sofa. The movement sent jagged spikes of pain up her leg. It's not broken, she reminded herself. Valkyrie dug her nails into the floor and heaved, but she moved less than a centimetre. Distantly, she saw Skulduggery and Ghastly help Cassandra to her feet. Cassandra had never seemed older to Valkyrie. Skulduggery said something to her and Cassandra began to limp away through a door. Skulduggery and Ghastly then went outside. Through the hole in the wall. Since when had there been a hole in the wall?

Then, Tanith was in front of her, kneeling down. She had a split lip. "Val? Are you okay?" her voice was faint to Valkyrie's ringing ears but clear enough to understand.

"Mmm." Valkyrie groaned. "My leg's trapped."

"Broken?" asked Tanith, positioning her arms under the sofa, readying to lift it.

"No. I don't think so."

"I'm going to lift the sofa, okay?"

"Yes please."

Tanith pulled and then frowneds. The sofa hadn't moved. Tanith seemed to notice Ragnor for the first time. He was weeping and moaning, clutching his arm.

"Excuse me Ragnor, would you stand up please?" asked Tanith politely, with a hint of urgency in her voice.

Ragnor moaned.

"Please?"

"My arm's broken!" cried Ragnor suddenly.

"I know I can see the bone poking through." said Tanith impatiently. With no reply from Ragnor except another moan, Tanith shouted"Are your legs broken?" Tanith reached up and shoved him"Move!"

Ragnor fell and wailed. He rolled on the floor. Tanith heaved the sofa off Valkyrie, and Valkyrie crawled out from under it. Her leg was painful but useable. Tanith pulled her up.

"You can get back on the sofa now, Ragnor. " said Valkyrie. Ragnor raised his hands to his temples and instantly passed out. Valkyrie looked at Tanith in surprise. She shrugged. "It's a thing he can do, now come on!"

Tanith grabbed Valkyrie's hand and pulled her through the doorway to the umbrella stand where their weapons were. Valkyrie was limping slightly but tried her best not to gall over. Tanith strapped on her sword. Valkyrie stuck her stick in place. They ran back to the living room to find Lex as stumbling towards the hole in the wall, holding her head.

Tanith led Valkyrie over to her. "Lex, just give yourself a minute, you're injured!" said Valkyrie, incredulously.

"I can help!" she insisted almost defensively.

"You'll just hurt yourself more." said Tanith. "Wait until you can see straight."

"Fine." Lex muttered.

Valkyrie and Tanith went to the hole in the wall and looked out. Rubble blocked most of the viewThe sound of gunfire littered the air. Valkyrie felt a sense of déjà vu. Tanith was smiling.

"What?" asked Valkyrie, confused.

"It's just..." Tanith hesitated , "The one time I make an emotional speech, this happens!."

Valkyrie and Tanith grinned at each other. Tanith drew her sword. "Well, let's go see who wants to kill us this time."

It's a short chapter but I hope you like it. I'm off my exams so that may mean more frequent updates :) Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9: Dexter (and Saracen)

Waking up was like getting cymbals crashed together by his ears, but a lot more unpleasant. Dexter groaned and rolled onto his back, pulling the thin hotel blankets up around his waist. His head was pounding and he had a dry mouth. "A mouth like Gandhi's flipflop". He had heard someone say that once, maybe when he killed that vampire that time. He didn't know which time exactly; he'd killed a lot of vampires.

He licked his lips. For a moment he allowed himself to hope that it wasn't going to be too bad, but he couldn't kid himself for long. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Dexter Vex sat up. His head throbbed and he groaned.

Realising he needed water now, Dexter forced himself to stand. Good God, his head hurt. He walked with heavy feet to his suitcase and pulled out some jeans. He yanked them on, disappointed with the amount of effort it took. A wave of nausea passed through him. He stumbled to the small kitchen space and poured himself a big glass of water. As an after thought, he poured a second. He took some of the weird named headache pills from a drawer and took two of them. He drank the rest of the water as fast as he could before slipping the pills into his pocket. Everything hurt and the world seemed sluggish. He walked back to his bed and picked up his mobile from the table beside it. Dexter took a second to gaze longingly at the soft looking mattress, before opening his phone. A voicemail from Ghastly and China apiece, and two from Skulduggery, always being different. He checked the time and moaned. He shoved his phone into his pocket.

" Saracen!" he called, and then winced. He wouldn't be shouting again. He went to the kitchen and picked up the second glass of padded to the bedroom door. Dexter prayed that his friend would be decent. He kicked open the door and it hit the wall with a reasonably loud tap. Saracen was sprawled across his bed, fully covered and thankfully alone, which came as a surprise to Dexter. Saracen always found ways to charm women into spending the night with him, to put it politely. Dexter didn't mind, as long as he had time to cringe and put a pillow around his ears.

"Saracen." he said again, moving to stand over his friend. Saracen didn't react. Dexter kicked the bed and made it jolt a few inches to the right. "Saracen." he said.

"Wake up." said Dexter, kicking again. Nothing. Not a peep.

Dexter sighed and reached down, wrapping his hand around Saracen's blankets. A smile formed on his lips. He didn't know if Saracen was clothed so Dexter prepared himself to turn away. Dexter hesitated but then said "You brought this on yourself." and ripped the covers off.

Saracen yelped like a puppy whose paw had just been stood on, and Dexter knew the deed was done. He tried not to laugh as he knew his friend wouldn't take it well. Dexter turned away, avoiding his friends nakedness. He heard rustling as Saracen pulled on his clothes. His dirty clothes.

"You decent?" asked Dexter.

"Nnhhhggr."

"Brilliant." said Dexter, turning back around. Saracen was now wearing trousers and a grey shirt. He held out the glass to Saracen and he took it. Dexter fished in his pocket for the headache pills and passed them to Saracen. He grunted in thanks and took them.

"Why?" said Saracen, his voice hoarse and scratchy

"We have a flight to catch in a few hours." Dexter said, and then, "Sorry."

Saracen waved a hand as if to say 'dont worry about it'. He groaned. "My brain hurts."

"I know." said Dexter.

"Everything hurts."

"I know." said Dexter.

"Our last night in Vegas wasn't exactly memorable." muttered Saracen distantly.

"Why?" said Dexter, confused. He'd had a good time, to be honest.

"Because I can't remember it."

Dexter smiled. "I did warn you."

"I don't remember you warning me."

"You don't remember anything."

"That," said Saracen, "Is an annoyingly good point."

Dexter walked out of the room and to the kitchen and got himself another glass of water. He sipped it. "Do you want food?" he asked Saracen.

"I am not going down to breakfast." said Saracen quietly, rubbing his head.

"Okay." said Dexter, watching as Saracen tried to sit down on the stool by the breakfast bar. It took him two tries. After he was settled, he put his head in his hands. Then he sat up. Then he put his head on the table. Then he groaned.

"I just need to lie down and not move for about ten hours." he whimpered. "My head hurts."

"Mm." said Dexter.

"My brain feels like its swollen."

"That would explain a lot." muttered Dexter to himself. Saracen didn't hear.

"My mouth feels like I threw up. There's no taste there, but I just feel like I threw up, you know?" said Saracen I also have aches in my legs and arms. Was I dancing? I was probably dancing. Oh God I was probably dancing, Dexter. I don't dance. You dance! Girls like it when you dance! I look like an idiot when I dance!"

Dexter flinched.

"Sorry, I'll stop shouting. God, I feel so awful, I'm dying. This is it. The end. My life is over. Everything hurts and-"

"Saracen, I don't say this often, but shut up." said Dexter, exasperated. His head ached and he could barely keep track of what Saracen was saying.

Saracen considered this, "You do say that often." he decided.

"I do." agreed Dexter, "But I thought it would make you be quieter more quickly if I was mean."

"No. But for my sake, not yours I will go and get a shower. I have a sticky, clammy feeling on my skin, and I'm afraid it's vomit."

Dexter lips quirked into a smile as he watched Saracen drag himself to the bathroom. Dexter took his glass of water and sat on the armchair by the window. The view looked out onto the iconic Las Vegas. The sun was just beginning to rise and it sent beams of light through the sparse clouds to shine onto the windows of buildings. With the orange hue of the sky growing deeper by the second, Dexter found his eyes drooping.

They had come to Vegas a week and a half ago, their pockets (or more accurately bank accounts) full of money that they had been saving for years. After both of their near death experiences during the fall of Darquesse, they had both decided that they needed a break. Or at least Saracen had. Dexter had been in critical condition for weeks, which was in its own way impressive considering the capabilities of medical science magic these days. Half of his teeth had been missing, and his jaw shattered. His innards were in pieces. What had saved him? Luck.

The doctors said it was a miracle, but Dexter didn't really believe in miracles. When he told (by the form of a whiteboard and pen) that he didn't, they said "Well you must of been determined to live then, Mr Vex.". That wasn't true either. Dexter couldn't remember any of it. He woke up in a bed in the medical wing in Sanctuary with God knows how many tubes in him, unable to talk and agony in his every thought. The pain was so great he just wanted it to end.

But it didn't. He endured. Despite all odds, he recovered. It took two months to be able to stand again, and another few months for them to reassemble his vocal cords and make him new teeth. Saracen had always joked that they shouldn't of bothered, or at least Dexter hoped he was joking. Saracen had been crushed by a wall but escaped with five broken ribs, a broken leg and arm (on the same side), and the worst thing according to Saracen, a bitten tongue.

Dexter Vex had scars now. Not where near as many as Ghastly, but enough. They were kind of disappointing as scars went. They didn't look brave. They were all straight and well calculated lines that came from them cutting him up and fixing his insides. There was a horizontal one on his neck, just below the hollow of his throat. There was a vertical one on his chest that stretched down towards his bellybutton but stopped before it reached it. He also had several on his back. It didn't really bother Dexter. At least he lived.

When he had recovered, Saracen preposed that they should take a break from everything. It sounded like a good idea to Dexter, so they began to muse on where to go. Dexter suggested going to see the Seven Wonders of the World, but Saracen said no. "It's needs to be a break." He had insisted.

"It will be?" Dexter had told him, confused.

"With you? God, no. You'd spend half the time talking about your adventures."

"You know I'll do that anyway." said Dexter, unoffended. It was true and he didn't mind.

They had chosen Vegas simply because it was so normal. Two guys taking a well earned break to Vegas? It sounded like the plot of a movie. It was perfect.

Unfortunately, it was expensive. Really expensive. None of them had the money for the sort of experience they were wanting. What was the point of going, Saracen said, if they didn't have the full package? The "full package" as Saracen had put it, included decent flights for the long journey, a fancy hotel with an even fancier casino, money for bars and restaurants, souvenirs and travel. It was insane. But hey it was fine because they needed a break. They saved up. Scraped the money together. Worked with one another on what Saracen called "adventures" and began to take money for jobs. Dexter didn't usually take money, so it was interesting to find out how much people were willing to pay. It was quite a lot.

After two years they booked the holiday. After another six months they were on the plane. Finally. When they arrived they took a (brief) moment to sort out their things before Saracen virtually dragged Dexter out to the nearest bar. Dexter only remembered half of the night. Which wasn't surprising. Saracen brought out the worse in him, Dexter liked to think.

Their routine began and Dexter did end up enjoying himself, after he forced Saracen to tone it down a bit. They had a great holiday, but now it was time to go back.

Dexter forced his eyes open and blinked in the growing light that hurt his eyes. He swallowed down his feelings of nausea. After recovering, he took out his mobile and opened the voicemail from China first.

"Mr Vex." she said in greeting, "I have booked you onto a flight this evening. Please get on the plane, you have work to do. I'll be see you soon."

It ended and Dexter muttered "charming" before checking the time when the voicemail arrived. He sighed when he saw. China would of calculated the time difference and the message arrived at around midday yesterday, which meant they missed the flight. That wasn't good. China wouldn't be happy.

Next he opened the two from Skulduggery, as they came after China.

"Hello, Dexter." began Skulduggery, "I don't mean to interrupt your essentially important holiday-"

"Yes he does." called Valkyrie from what sounded like the other side of the room. Dexter could practically hear the lok Skulduggery must of given Valkyrie.

"But we have a problem on our hands, and-"

"We can't do it without you!" said Valkyrie in a mocking sing song voice.

"Shut up. Ignore her. She's just upset that she's not the centre of attention anymore. Kindly make your way-"

There was a thump and the call went dead. Dexter frowned and clicked the second voicemail.

"Sorry about that. My lovely, caring, partner decided to throw something at me, and it happened to knock my phone out of my hand."

"You were being annoying!"

"Whose being annoying now? I'm trying to leave a message. Shush. "

There was another thump and Dexter smiled.

"Stop throwing things at me!" said Skulduggery indignantly. "Now, Dexter- ow. Right stop. Enough. Ouch." Skulduggery seemed irritated and mildly amused, but not angry. "Just get on a plane, Dexter!" he called into the phone. Then Dexter heard Valkyrie shriek as there was a crash, and the message ended. Those two were perfect for each other. More of a match for each other.

"Hi, Dexter. I thought I'd talk to you before China gets hold of you again. You might want to head back, its important. Ravel- Erskine had an army of sorcerers that we're trying to tack down... it's hard to explain. There's a powerful sensitive and a shapeshifter, if that gives you incentive. The next voicemail will probably be from China, so prepare yourself. See you soon, hopefully. Bye."

The message finished and Dexter frowned. The message had convinced him that they needed to get back. Things were beginning to happen and Dexter liked to know what he was facing before he had to face it. Erskine Ravel having a secret army of powerful sorcerers was a disturbing thought, as nobody had noticed. If nobody had noticed an army then who knew what else still lingered from Ravel's plans? It had been years since all that happened and it was supposed to be over, but it seemed to Dexter that Erskine's roots were anchored deeper than what they had first assumed. More people could still be out there. People who were alone and confused, which made them dangerous and the people around them vulnerable. It was unsettling. And Ghastly had mentioned a powerful sensitive. Though surely if he really was as powerful as Ghastly thought then his disappearance to the army would of been noticed. Powerful sorcerers attached attention from all sorts of people, but the new people seemed to be appearing from nowhere. This begged the question; where the hell was Ravel getting these people?

Then came the brief mention of the shapeshifter. There hadn't been one of those in years. Not because it was a bad ability to have but because it was dangerous. Dexter supposed that if the people didn't have knowledge about the magic community then they wouldn't of known what branches of magic were the most difficult. The last shapeshifter he'd had a conversation with had been one of his best friends, and even he had said the shapeshifter was a painful area of magic. The results, his friend had said, were worth it, but it took work. His friend, whom was often said to have many faces, was always practising his ability and fine tuning it, making sure that every change was smooth and instinctual. This new shapeshifter had a lot of work ahead of them, dangerous work. Even his friend Hopel-

Saracen came out of the bathroom and collapsed into another armchair. He had two towels wrapped around him and water drilled from his hair. His eyes were wide and stared into space.

"Are you okay?" asked Dexter.

"Great, yeah." said Saracen, beaming. "Fantastic."

Dexter raised his eyebrows, "Really?" he said.

"No." sighed Saracen miserably, "I threw up."

"What? Where?"

"In the toilet. I think"

Dexter breathed in relief. "Could of been worse." he admitted. "I'm going to take a shower now. Try not to throw up."

"Thanks."

After getting out of the shower, drying himself off, and putting on some clothes, Dexter exited the bathroom to find Saracen packing up his things. Saracen looked up at the sound of the door opening and Dexter raised his eyebrows at him.

"What?" Saracen said, "I just want to get on the damn plane so I can sleep."

Dexter shrugged. "Fair enough." he said, and began to gather his things together. It was surprising to discover how spread out their belongings were after such a short amount of time. Clothes were everywhere and everything was unbearably creased. After gathering a rather large pile of clothes, Dexter began to pack his suitcase. His packing technique was very practical and in his mind, flawless. Years of travelling had allowed him to perfect a way to pack, and he was quite proud of it.

Dexter noticed a few things were missing, and they happened to be essential. His passport, boarding card, shoes, and phone charger weren't there. Dexter frowned and walked into Saracen's room. He was shoving clothes unceremoniously into his suitcase and most of them were scrunched into tight balls in his haste.

"Hey have you seen my passport?" asked Dexter, starting small. If Saracen really did just 'know' things, then Dexter hoped that his friend 'knew' where his things were.

"Your passport is in the drawer by your bed," began Saracen, turning to face Dexter. "Oh and your boarding card is in the- wait..." Saracen closed his eyes, "One, two, three, four, five..." His eyes opened. "Yes, in the fifth page of your passport. Approximately. Your shoes are under your bed covered by a hotel towel, and your phone charger is behind the couch. Your watch has fallen between the gap in cushions on the couch."

Dexter fought the urged to aggressively roll his eyes. "My watch was missing? he said mildly.

"Yes, but I think that's everything." said Saracen.

"Great." said Dexter, " he paused and then, " Your power is wasted on you."

"Ah, but then how would you be able to find anything? You need me."

"I could find it on my own, and who says you would know where everything is? You don't know everything."

"No, but I know things."

Dexter grimaced, "Any chance you'll tell me what your power is?"

Saracen smiled and tapped his nose. "I know things." he said.

Dexter gritted his teeth in annoyance but said nothing.

Everything was packed and it was time to go. The room was a mess with towels everywhere, rubbish stranded in strange places, and dirty dishes on the kitchen counters. Dexter felt bad about that, but Saracen was convinced that they were going to be late because neither of them really knew where they were going. That was true and it made Dexter feel a little better about leaving such a mess in a fancy hotel, but he still left some dollars as a tip and quick apology. He hoped the cleaners didn't mind. Dexter voiced his concerns to Saracen but he just rolled his eyes and said that it would be fine.

Dexter turned to look at Saracen. "Right," he said, "Have we forgotten anything?"

"No." said Saracen, "Hang on, wait...in fact no."

"Great." said Dexter, "Let's go." Dexter picked up his suitcase handle and walked to the door, dragging his suitcase on its wheels behind him. He pulled the door open and walked out. Saracen followed. They stood out in the corridor side by side for a moment, gazing at their admittedly fithly room. They were quiet until Saracen said;

"I'll miss this."

Dexter looked at him.

"Not the mess, obviously," continued Saracen, "but the memories, you know?"

"Don't get emotional on me, Saracen, I can see the tears glistening in your eyes."

Saracen pretended not to hear. "Ah, Vegas." he sighed mournfully, "The days an adventure, the nights spent with women who found me irresistible-"

"I really don't want to hear this." said Dexter quickly.

"Fine. Point is, I'll miss it. I felt like I belonged here-"

"Saracen, we were here for ten days."

"Which goes to show how much of an impression it's made on me." snapped Saracen, but with good humours. He smiled sadly. "Goodbye, Vegas."

"You done?" inquired Dexter.

"Yes. Let's go."

They walked down the corridor, their wheeled suitcases making a click clacking noise every time they crossed a tile on the polished floor. They walked in silence, the hotel quiet. As they got into the lift that would lead them to the lobby, Dexter saw Saracen stiffen. He immediately went on guard. He knew what that meant.

"What?" he asked quietly as the lift went down.

"Could be nothing," said Saracen softly, "but there's a man down there looking really restless. Sweaty, looking around but mostly at the elevator, nervous. Eager maybe?"

"Waiting for us?"

"Possibly?" Saracen's brow furrowed, "A few other people sat on the couches, but they look normal."

The lift continued down. One floor left.

"The guy has no weapons on him but he's definitely waiting for the lift to come down." Saracen said quickly. "Just act normal, its probably nothing. Be on guard."

Dexter nodded.

The doors of the lift opened and they strolled out, Dexter not even glancing at the man Saracen had been talking about. Dexter smiled at Saracen.

"Are you sure you have the passports?" he asked.

"Yes," insisted Saracen in a similar tone. "Don't worry."

"Good, you know what you're like."

"Mm," said Saracen, "but I'm sure."

Dexter didn't dare glance at the man Saracen was talking about. Instead he made his way to the counter to check out, his pace steady and leisurely, even though his thoughts were tense and anxious.

The woman at the desk gave them both a smile. "Good morning!" she said brightly. "Here to check out?"

Dexter noticed that her shiny name tag read Hilary. She had blonde hair that looked dyed and brown eyes. He could feel the man's gaze. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Yes please." said Saracen warmly.

"Okay." said Hilary, typing into her computer. "Key card?"

Dexter gave it to her. She slid it into a machine and it beeped.

"This will take a minute." she explained, "It's just procedure."

"No problem." said Saracen.

Dexter fought the urge to turn around and look at the man. He could feel him looking at them, and he wanted to turn around. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch. Maybe a little glance would be okay? Then at least he'd know whether or not to worry...normal guys standing around didn't notice a casual surveying of the room, Dexter thought.

"So where are you off to?" asked Hilary. The machine with their keycard in was making a whirring sound.

"Home." said Saracen, "Ireland."

"Ah," said Hilary with a smile at Saracen. "I thought I recognised the accent."

Saracen smiled back. Dexter was too preoccupied to care. "I'll miss this place," said Saracen, glancing around the lobby.

"Yeah, me too." added Dexter and took the opportunity to look around also. He looked at the man. Tall, with only a little muscle. He had black hair with streaks of grey and white, which matched his short beard. Their eyes met momentarily, the man had grey eyes. Dexter turned away from him.

Hilary and Saracen were smiling at it each other and Dexter tried his best not to groan. How long had he turned away for? It had to be mere seconds.

"I kind of wish you were staying now," said Hilary, raising an eyebrow.

"Me too." said Saracen as the machine beeped.

Hilary's smile grew. Dexter cleared his throat and nodded to the machine.

"Oh," she said softly as if she'd forgotten all about it. "Sorry." she murmured. Her cheeks turned pink and she fumbled with the machine for a bit, flustered. "Here." she handed it to Saracen, "Thank for staying with us, we wish you a fantastic onwards journey."

Rehearsed words, noted Dexter. Saracen gave her a sad parting smile.

"Really?" said Dexter.

"Oops." said Saracen.

They walked away from the desk together and found the man standing in their path. Not threateningly, but in the way. He looked...cold. His face was expressionless, as smooth and still as if it was made of stone. Dexter's hand tightened on his suitcase handle. He'd always hated waiting for something to happen. They walked up to the man.

Dexter was expecting a confrontation, so it was a surprise when the man smiled warmly, moved, and featured for them to pass. Hesitant but not wanting to arouse suspicion, they walked past. Dexter wondered if the other people in the lobby could sense the almost electric atmosphere in the room.

It came almost as a relief when the man attacked, but it the feeling was ruined when Dexter was catapulted through the air into a wall. A hard wall. He grunted in pain, but managed to get up. He shook off the rattled feeling his brain had gotten from the impact. He looked up to see Saracen swing his suitcase at the man's face. It hit the area of his shoulder, neck, and head and the man stumbled. The overfull suitcase burst open and Saracen's belongings spilled out across the gleaming tiled floor. The man recovered and punched Saracen in the gut. Saracen nearly doubled over but fought it and threw a lunch of his own. It was a lucky shot and landed on his opponents jaw, making him reel backwards. The man spat out a gob of blood.

Dexter ran forward to assist, noticing for the first time that there was a large, black, burn mark where he had been standing when the man first attacked. Before he could reach the man, he raised his hand, and a bright almost movie like bolt of lightning fkew from his fingertips towards Dexter. Dexter dived to avoid it, not liking the way it singed the floor. Magic in a public place was also not good; that meant the man was dangerous.

"Call 911!" shouted Hilary to the people in the lobby. She was peering over the desk, her mouth an 'o' in shock, still trying to convince herself that she didn't see what she thought she saw. Dexter didn't have that luxury.

Dexter's hands glowed and he fired beams at the man, but he avoided them with ease. Several civilians were frantically fumbling with their mobile phones, trying to stop themselves from shaking so they could punch in the three numbers. Dexter cursed internally, but maybe it was for the best it the cops showed up.

Their opponent took care of it. He raised his hands and twisted them fiercely to the side, and all the phones made popping noises as electricity burst from them. The people gasped in pain as the mobiles burnt their hands. Saracen went to hit the man again while he was distracted, but the man just turned and placed his hands on Saracen and there was a fizz and Saracen flew back. He landed hard, and groaned. Injured but still alive, noted Dexter.

Dexter fired more streams at the man, who returned fire with thin spears of lightning. Dexter kept moving and avoiding, looking for weak spots or anything that would help him. He noticed an emergency telephone in the corner of the room. Someone should call the police because there was a chance tha they could help Dexter survive this encounter. They'd just have to get a sensitive to change what they thought happened afterwards. No one else had noticed the we emergency phone. He found himself by the desk that Hilary was cowering behind. She looked close to hysteria. He looked at her until her caught her eye and then looked to the emergency telephone on the other side of the room from her. Her mouth set in a grim line and she gave him minuscule nod, still scared but determined.

Dexter's brief distraction allowed the man to clip his shoulder with a shot. Dexter hissed as it burnt through his clothes and burrowed into his skin. The shot made his entire arm spasm. A beam of enegry shot from his hand and up into the air. It hit the expensive chandelier and it was severed from the ceiling. To Dexter, it seemed to fall in slow motion. When it hit the ground it shattered into thousands of diamond like pieces. People screamed as shards were thrown in every direction. A rather large and sharp shard flew towards Dexter and sliced open his calf. He grunted as blood began to trickle down his leg and onto his sock.

Hilary took the moment to run for the phone. She ran around the desk and sprinted for the emergency phone, avoiding the metal frame of the chandelie that kay in her path. Dexter fired somemore at the man to try and keep the attention on him so Hilary could get to the phone. Hilary's small heels hindered her and she slipped on the glass shards and went down. She threw out her hands to catch her fall and gasped as tiny fragments pierced her skin. She paused but then slowly stood up, her tights ripped and her knees bleeding. Her lips was bleeding as well and Dexter assumed she had bitten it on the way down.

The man turned and looked at Hilary, who seemed to falter. Dexter raised his hand and felt it get warm until a beam shot from it. The beam hit the man in the back and sent him onto his knees. Hilary stood still, like a rabbit caught in the headlights, but after a moment she seemed to snap out of her trance. She moved to run. Dexter paused to admire her courage, and raised his hand to fire at the man again. He hesitated when he saw the man's own hands raised, and it took his brain a while to react. Dexter sprinted towards the man, firing as he ran, but his steps and pace made his aim off.

The man fired and Hilary ducked as the wall behind her cracked and crumbled. The wall had a black mark on it in the shape of a diamond and singe marks in an oval around that. Hilary saw it and took a whispy little breath, the sound made when someone wants to scream but can't remember how to.

Dexter wrapped his arm around the man's neck, but he didn't seem to even notice. Dexter tried pulling the man's arm down but he was too strong. Dimly, he noticed that Saracen was up and running towards their little scuffle. Dexter tightened but he couldn't stop the man from firing again. Lightning cracked and Dexter's ears rang.

Hilary, to her credit, tried to avoid it, but no one is faster than lightning. She seemed to see it coming and her mouth opened to- what? Cry out? Scream? Ask for help? She didn't get one syllable out, and was silent when the lightning spear hit her eye and burrowed into her brain. She was dead before she hit the ground.

People screeched and screamed in horror. Dexter didn't know what he was feeling. He didn't know what Saracen was feeling either, when he ran over and helped restrain the man who'd just killed Hilary. Dexter noticed that his arm was no longer around his throat. He shook of the muddled feeling in his brain and imagined flicking a sort of switch in his head; deal with emotions later. Dexter worked on pulling the man's hands behind his back, which was easier said than done. The man was surprisingly strong considering it was two on one. Saracen had an arm around the man's throat as well but despite all this, the man bucked and hissed and cursed.

Dexter noticed that the man's skin was warm. Very warm. Hot, now. Getting hotter. Then it clicked. He raised his eyes to Saracen's and Dexter watched his eyes widen as he realised. In a split second, they both got up and dived away from the man. Dexter slid across the floor and curled up, his arms around to protect his head. A moment later and a burst of lightning and electricity launched itself from the man's entire body, throwing out a shockwave that threw Dexter's body back. There wasn't even a huge noise, likendexzter would of expected, it was more of a fizz. Out of nowhere, Dexter began to spasm, legs and arms everywhere, every muscle tensing and flailing. The fizz sound faded and Dexter was numb. His body stopped spasming but still his limbs twitched every so often. He didn't know how long he lay there, but he couldn't get up until he felt his legs again.

Slowly, in pain, and groaning, Dexter got up. His knees were still trembling slightly, but he forced himself forward. Smoke clouded the air and glass from the high windows in the lobby was strewn around the ground. He noticed a figure in the smoke. Saracen. He was lying on the ground, moaning, his body still jerking. At the sound of footsteps, Saracen's eyes opened. He seemed to gain control over himself. Dexter held out a hand and helped him up, his arm looped over his shoulder.

The smoke was beginning to clear as the wind from the windows dispersed it. Dexter saw small fires burning the more flammable things. The blast had knocked over candles, and a fire was brewing. He led them to a wall and pulled the fire alarm, and the shrill wail pierced the air.

Dextersaw for the first time that the man was gone, the only evidence of his existence a black mark on the floor. At the moment it didn't matter, him and Saracen had to get away from the damn hotel before the cops appeared and started asking awkward questions. They also needed a sensitive to come over and start wiling minds, but that wasn't an option at the moment.

Saracen nudged him as they approached the door. Dexter looked at him and Saracen nodded over his shoulder. People were standing there, staring at them as the fire spread. Their faces were blackened and several were bleeding from various wounds, but all of them were on their feet, and not moving.

"The hell are you doing?!" shouted Dexter in bewilderment, his voice hoarse from the smoke. When he shouted, people jumped. Their shocked eyes were wide and showed fear. Not at the fire, but at them. "Get out of here! Don't you see the fire?" he cried incredulously. The people didn't move. Dexter didn't know what to do.

Apparently, Saracen did. "Didn't you hear him?" he roared, "Go!"

That did it. The people ran past them on the way out. Some were hobbling slightly from the twitching in their legs. Some threw frightened looks their way.

Dexter let go of Saracen as his body had returned to normal. They jogged out, away from the growing fire.

When they were out in the daylight, Saracen turned to him.

"We have to go." he said.

"I know." replied Dexter, listening to the alarm. He heard shouts from upper floors as people tried to get out.

"Everyone should be fine." murmured Saracen slowly, "The fire will take a while to spread. We can't be here when the police arrive."

"Yeah, I know." said Dexter turning away. "Let's go."

They began to look for a car to steal.

I hoped you liked this chapter. Please vote and comment! This chapter was meant to be 3000 words (my version of brief) but it kind of turned into something else.

Recently, people have been saying amazing things about my sorry and I just wanted to express how much that means to me. It's stuff like those comments that makes me love writing more chapters for you guys, so thank you. It's a great motivator anyway, haha.


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